Insert Villain Conditioning Here
by RockBane
Summary: What does a Devil Boss 'Monster' and one Izuku have in common? Well, the answer is a touch more complex and yet, simple at the same time. Thirteen year old Izuku is caught up in a conflict between Pro Heroes trapped within the game and a Villain who wanted them all trapped within said game. It's a mess, a complete and utter mess. It's going to take a lot for Izuku to come away sane
1. Chapter 1

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

 _It was just suppose to be a Game!_ Thinks one thirteen year old Midoriya Izuku as he stares at his reflection, at the name hovering over his head. Gentleman Draven Ose, it isn't the name he put down as his Avatar, then again, he's Avatar's race or looks weren't want he picked out for himself either.

Skin is dark gray with leopard spots of dark brown with hints of light darker gray can be noted on his forehead plus the edge of his eyes and casting his eyes down a bit, Izuku notices upon his neck. Looking down, he's got them on his currently bare arms and shoulders. His Avatar's eyes are a dark purple that sport a gemstone shine to them and are slit like some predators with black sclera. Those eyes send shivers down his spine while he feels his heart race up.

It takes a while before he finds himself able to continue examining his hair, which is off white and noting the pointed ears on either side of his head. Opening his mouth, his teeth are all pointed and sharp looking and his tongue sports a tiny fork at the tip of it but that's it. His teeth are white and his tongue is its normal red. Sticking his tongue out, he curls it and it responses, pulling his tongue back in and closing his mouth, he notices his lips are now black and thin.

Then there's the age of the Avatar, which seems to be early to mid twenties in age. It was far too aged up then is allowed for Players, which is aging up by five years or down by the same. It's clear that some kind of glitch happened to cause him to end up as he is.

He's dimly aware that he should be reacting far more strongly then he is, but he's just emotionally numb. Logically, he should be suffering a panic attack, this is far beyond what he's able to handle. So it's clear that it's something going on with his helmet's interface and it's doing something to his brain chemistry.

Finally leaving the bathroom, he walks around the room and looking for clues before pausing to access his Menu and smiles bitterly at the lack of Log Out or a Feedback option. Then he brings up his Character Menu and the first page shows his Avatar in all his 'glory' which also includes what he's wearing, which is a simple tunic and cotton pants. Rotating it, Izuku notices the placement of the leopard spots on the body along with how long his hair is.

There's a Bio Tab that he ignores, he'll read it later, and then goes to his Basic Stats Tab. He's Level is 5 and he's stats are already done, there's no spare points to spend. His race is the NPC only one, a Devil and the Noble House he is belongs to is House Ose, which is listed among the Seventy-two Pillars of the Underworld and the House Noble Ranking is that of President. His personal Title is Gentleman and it's the lowest Noble Title that a Devil born among the Noble Houses can possess.

And yes, he can advance within House Ose's own ranks, trying for the coveted Title of President of House Ose. From what he recalls upon researching the game, the set up of the Devils of the game are based off of some old religious book called Ars Goetia and Devils aren't the only Faction within the game. A lot of things were borrowed from old books and mythology concepts, examples of which range from Asian Oni and European Goblins to Greek Minotaurs and Indian Rakshasa.

A chime rings out and his Character Menu closes as he was reading his Magic and Skills Tabs. He's suddenly teleporting away from the room and, as his vision clears, Draven's head is pounding and rubbing his forehead. There's a number of voice groaning and cursing. He... feels like he's forgetting something, but, well, for now, it's best he focus on the meeting. A glance around shows there's at least eight others to be summoned for this meeting, an Oni, Hobgoblin, Orc, Minotaur, Rakshasa, Werewolf, Tengu, and Ogre.

He doesn't see the point in learning their names as of yet as he focuses on Ultimate Doom with a crimson Crown. The almost skeleton looking Elf's smile is very wide, so very wide and it's clear the Elf is rather gleefully studying each of them. "Well, nine Quirkless Players, more then I thought I'd get." Remarks the Elf and something about the word 'Quirkless' makes him want to grind his teeth as he gives the Elf a glare.

"Fuck off!" Snaps the Werewolf with a snarl and there's growling. The Elf chuckles in delight at the reaction that remarked caused.

"Well, the game's begun and I now have you nine as my Boss Monsters." Continues the Elf and he's a touch confused by what the Elf is talking about. The insane Elf's eyes land on him and he does his best to keep a neutral expression along with a polite pose as he files this away, it could be of use later.

"Some more impressive then others." Comments the Elf after a few seconds and glancing away, he can feel a few stare at him, likely already not liking that statement or what it implies. He's a member of House Ose, of course he knows how to keep a mask of neutral interest and how to ignore the urge to fret needlessly. He knows his place in his House and this promises to be a way for him to advance his standing within his House, perhaps even earn him a chance for marriage if he can prove he can provide for said wife and any child they might be able to conceive in such a union, he's young by his Race's standards but it matters not if he manages to prove himself in this regard.

"Now then, your Quest Log will give you the details you need for your respective tasks and be sure to terrorize any Players you happen to encounter, Adventurers or Laborers both." The Elf says and a book forms before him, a simple tab with his index finger sees the book fading while he gets a mental note that it has been added to his Character Menu. "Now, off you go kill, maim or torture and be sure to recruit!"

With that, Draven finds himself teleported back to his rooms at his Great Grandparents' estate. "At least he's not going to micro manage my course of action." He remarks out loud in the privacy of his empty room.

It's not long for him to change out of his current attire and into more formal cloths, he's sure to pack up every personal belong into his Dimensional Pocket. He's in possession of one hundred gold, a four hundred silver, and eight hundred copper. He's confident that he'll be able to recruit Devils from the labor force, there should be plenty who'd join his venture for a silver a month or less. The money should also allow him to purchase armor for them along with supplies.

It's now a question of where does he want to start with this venture, after all, while he's likely higher in levels of power to the current wave of Heroes and their Supports, it shouldn't take them long for their power to grow.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"Temper, temper, little Hero." Draven remarks with a smirk which only serves to cause the already fire based caster to snarls and try to pull away from the wall that he's chained to. "Fuck you pansy ass kitty cat!"

Attempts are casting quick spells cause the shackles about the wrist to glow, interrupting the casting of spells. "So this is your Dungeon." Draven mentally sighs as he turns to regard Ultimate Doom, who struts through the door to regard the current prisoner.

"If I had known you were interested in a tour of my abode and would be honored to ensure you receive a proper look." He informs the insane Elf in a polite and respectable tone. "Who the fuck is this skeleton nut job?"

"He's got quite the mouth on him." Remarks Ultimate Doom, it's clear that the Hero's foul and curse language just amuses the other as the Elf walks lazily to stand before the Hero. "I'll blast your skull to bits before shoving that fucking Devil's intestines down his shitty throat!"

He's so tempted to roll his eyes but instead he casts a paralyze spell at the prisoner, noting how the other is beginning to tense his legs. "Ruin my fun why don't you?" The Elf says in a sulking tone.

"Forgive me but he was getting ready to try something stupid in regards to yourself and thought it prudent to prevent from happening." He explains politely and the Elf takes a moment to study the prisoner before grinning in pleasure. "And this is why your my favorite Boss Monster, always eager to protect your Master."

 _I rather not have you throwing a temper tantrum at my base of operations. I rather not rebuild them._ Draven is tempted to say but instead remarks, "Is there anything you wish for me to do in concerns of this prisoner, sir?"

"Hmm...? Oh, perhaps, why, are you offering him to me?" Inquires the insane Elf possessing insane amount of power.

"If you wish to claim him, then please tell me so that I can ensure he is properly packaged with his belongs." He had this one captured simply to see how long it would take for a Hero to die of starvation, he could always capture another, there are plenty of foul tempered Heroes and Supports to pick from after all. The Elf grins widely and glances towards the prisoner, speaking to the Hero, "Hear that? I can claim you as a private play thing right now."

The Elf reaches out with his left hand while the right index taps his chin. The prisoner's head moves right and then left before the insane Elf steps to the side just a second before the paralyze spell wears off. A leg kicks forward and then the prisoner turns and tries to kick the Elf once more, it does hit as Ultimate Doom is already a few steps to the side while the Hero hurls out a limited vocabulary of curses, generally repeating the same ones in an unimaginative way.

"Well, this is boring, why don't we head for the kitchen? I'm sure you have something good to drink, you are a member of a Pillar House after all." Remarks the Elf, glancing at him with a smirk.

"Is there a particular favorite you wish to sample?" He inquires as he falls into step behind the Elf, the feeling of the heated glare at his back seems... nauseatingly familiar. It's hardly the first time the feel wells up within him and there's also a smug feeling of turn about and feeling guilty.

It fades once the door of the cell is closed, locked, and they walk for the stairs. Listening politely as the insane Elf doesn't really answer his inquiry but begins chatting about how pleased he is with how this game is going and chatting about the exploits of the other eight 'Bosses'. Clearly happy with how much of a brute so and so had been at this settlement, it's always been clear that the Elf has a preference for violence, finding it anything they did as amusing and very self satisfied, like he personally had a hand in helping them achieve such course of action or planning.

It's rather unsettling and it makes him feel uneasy, along with a sense of something important that's just out of his reach, like it this a critical detail that will make everything fall into place. _It'll be a year since I started working for him._ Draven mentally notes in a matter of fact way.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"You ever fucked a tiger before? Or is it you're the one who prefers to take it up the ass?" He ignores the prisoner, who's still very much alive even though it's been a month since Ultimate Doom's visit and after not receiving any drinks for the pass six days. Draven casually uses a paralyze spell and regards the Healer he brought.

Wordlessly, the Healer approaches with a certain glint in their eye and begins to examine the Hero. Then moves on to examine the space about the Hero. A questioning look and the he gives a slight nod, the other Devil of common lineage begins to unlock the shackles of the Hero once the Healer applies the knock out drug.

"Fascinating." Healer Bina remarks as the two guards enter now, carrying the Hero out of the cell to take the foul tempered Human Hero to the prepared examination area that the Healer will be using. "And no food at all, for the pass thirty-two days? Or water for the last six?"

"No waste what so ever about his space either. No stench of an unwashed body." The typical red skinned common Devil muses as the Healer walks before him once the guards have carried the Hero out.

There's no point in commenting as it was something he had already covered with the Healer, he rather speak more after the examination. Healer Bina will only be with him for a week as she's on loan to him from a Great Uncle of his for not just two favors but also having paid in gold. He's got two weedy common Devils assigned to her and hope that they'll pick up a few things about the profession, both know how to treat creature aliments and it would save him money if they can learn to do the same for beings, or at least pick up the basics of the Healer writings and self study the profession, it's not like he can't raid Order settlements or buy from wandering Merchants said scrolls and books.

Escorting the Healer to the prepared room, Draven takes a moment to regard the set up, the Hero's always worn attire is now gone leaving underwear covering the privates. Satisfied with leaving the trio of common Devils to their appointed task concerning the Hero, he walks away. He tours the smelters and the forges before checking on the work of the carpenters and the lumber yard.

His newest expansions are coming along well while the masons and quarry-men are still off on the mission of mining suitable stone from the previously abandoned quarry. Yes, he did need to clear out a nest of Kobolds and their tamed ridge crested monitor lizards. He's not happy that he's had to build an out post there and keep it manned with a score of his fighters and support staff at all times as if he leaves it unoccupied for a minimum of three days, Kobolds would once more have made themselves at home within the quarry, which is unacceptable in his mind, given he rooted them out already.

His coffers are still filled decently enough and with the smelters now turning what ore they mine along with the stone into ingots, they can now make better metal armors and weapons that weren't bronze or copper as copper and tin ore are far cheaper to buy then iron. Some of the uncut gems that also get found are being sold as he doesn't have any use for them at this point in time. With better armed and protected forces under his command, he'll be able to target stronger settlements and pursue Ultimate Doom's plans of terrorizing Heroes and Supports.

The thought of the insane Elf causes him to frown as he stares off at the distance. Given the power the Elf possesses, he finds it hard to believe that the Elf needs him or the others. Given the 'subtle' plays of power, which weren't subtle at all in regards to Horde Lord Wrath the Orc or Pack King Ruthless the Werewolf, it's clear that the Elf should have no problem destroying one of the cities of the Order and yet, the Elf seems more content to spur them into doing so instead, with giddy glee and cruel amusement in his eyes.

Draven is a Devil, born to House Ose of the Seventy-two Pillars and he does not like being regarded as the Elf's play thing, a tool meant to amuse its 'owner'. Like the other eight members, he has no love nor hold true loyalty to the Elf but unlike the others, he's yet to make an effort into working against the insane Elf as well. There was nothing to be gained as of yet to rebelling to the Elf's twisted requests or trying to defend himself from the sweeping moods, which seems to be reason why he's regarded as the 'favorite' as he 'knows' his 'place'. Not that Ultimate Doom hasn't attempted to push him pass his limits in hopes of causing him to react in such a way as to be in need of 'correction' and thus has suffered humiliation upon humiliation, most often when the others are presence as well.

Even with his training in manners and in self control, he should have snapped at the Elf at least once this past year, if only because of his pride in his Noble House. Nor is there this... festering negativity focused on the insane Elf or at the others for witnessing such things. Just this bizarre, passively focus emotion of self loathing and this continuous sense of him being useless... of him not being of any worth.

He's done a lot of self reflection and can't, for the life of him, pin point what experience he has that could cause such emotions and self image issues to crop up! Draven knows that his House's standing isn't that high among the Pillars but that doesn't mean he was not any less of a Noble as those born to Houses in stations above his own. Like all children born to House Ose, he'd been groomed and educated to pursue goals that would align with benefiting his House and his standing within it. He's still far too young to be considered an actual contender for advancement within the House as he's not yet a century old and thus is allowed to do as he pleases as long as he doesn't do it in the Underworld or provoke open conflict with another House of the same standing.

Draven isn't the only Devil who's active upon the core plane of The Expanse nor is he the only one leading an army or in the process of laying claim to portions of land. The common Devils tend towards mercenary work of any kind while a greater of his fellow Noble Devils tend towards leading plundering armies or mercenary companies. And then there are a few others seek to secure resources for their future projects among the Underworld or set up profitable operations that could generate money, which is kind of what building this wooden fort which is slowly turning into a stone keep generally means. Yes, he's not above using the fort as a launching pad for raiding the Order settlements or for hunting down the odd Hero bounty, but his ultimate aim is for generating income so that he will have money to pursue a mastery or two in magical subjects once back in the Underworld, which can be expensive given the need for spell components and paying a teacher for lessons.

Yes, within a week of having met Ultimate Doom, he realized that it's doubtful that the insane Elf could help him cheat in climbing the social ladder of his House and feeling a touch foolish plus annoyed, he revisited his options. Sadly, he can't seem to cut ties with the insane Elf or he would have done so a long time ago. It's seems far too late for him to escape the Elf's clutches and this 'game' he is playing with the current generation of Order Chosen Heroes and Support.

He's done his best to escape his death multiple times and is highly motivated plus interested in continuing to do so as there has to be a price for the Resurrection that Ultimate Doom uses to bring the others back from their final rest. Which means he's in need of homing his skills and seeing to improving his forces. After all, while he may be able to win against a single Hero in single combat, the odd increase against him the more Heroes he faces as a couple of his common Devil recruits can kill a Support they would not hold long against a Hero.

His thoughts are interrupted by his Quest Log appearing before him and then flipping to a page, signalling that this Quest is new and that Ultimate Doom wish it to be completed as soon as possible. "White-Out, hmmm?" It's just as strange a name as all the other Heroes and Support that he schools his expression as he reads the details instead of skimming them once again.

Tapping the portrait of this White-Out, he can't help but wonder to himself, _Why would he not retrieve you himself?_ After all, there have been other Quests of this nature had them creating distractions so that Ultimate Doom could collect some Hero or Support, even steal something from some Guild's vaults. The image is another Elf who sports spiky dark grey hair, gemstone blue eyes, and who's cloths are made out of leather. There is a simple long dagger on the belt and then there's a special belt that goes from left to right that possesses more knives, likely off of which are mean for throwing. Everything leading him to conclude that this White-Out is a range fighter and might be more into being a stealthy kind of Hero.

The type of Hero that is going to be hard to flush out.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

 _Ok, so maybe not so hard to flush out._ Draven mentally amends as White-Out glares at the trio who just tossed the Hero down before him upon him dismounting from the Strider, a breed of horse that magic was used to alter their stamina to be hardier then a normal one. Taking out a pouch, he puts twelve thousand gold into it from his Dimensional Pocket and flings it to the feet of the leader of the three.

The Dwarf member of the trio walks over and picks up the leather pouch, without even counting it, the pouch vanishes with a nod from said Dwarf. "Pleasure doing business with you." The leader states and the trio are quick to use Teleportation Stones to leave the area.

Looking down, he notices a stick in the mouth with leather straps ensuring White-Out couldn't spit it out. A quick sleep sleep and the Hero is out, with that, he bends down and easily lifts the Hero onto the back of his Strider before getting back into it. With that, he and his escort of four leave, heading back the way they came.

It's only been a week since he crafted those flyers concerning a bounty on White-Out and how to contact him, Gentleman Draven Ose, in order to collect it. He decided not to really put much effort into the Quest after thinking about it for a day. Oh, Draven knew that the Heroes and Support have been having trouble managing their funds but didn't think they'd actually betray one of their own for a mere twelve thousand gold coins. After all, Support can build things and sell said things to the Temples or even to the Order merchants while Heroes gain money from 'mob' bounties never mind the money gained from raiding abandon ruins or non-Order settlements. It was a simple matter of fiances and knowing how to barter in the end yet, it seems that it's something that this generation of Heroes and Support lack.

He follows behind his two guards as they carry White-Out down the stairs into his prison cells. There's half a dozen dug out and out of them, only one is in use. The foul mouth and tempered Hero curses at them as they pass his cell, although there's beginning to be a lack of real heat in those words, then again, it seems that the Hero is starting to become effected by his surroundings and the lack of rescue attempts. After all, it's for that very reason he decided to capture him to begin with as the Human hadn't endured himself to his fellow party members and he figured that if that were true, then it's likely that the Hero hadn't endured himself at all among his fellow Heroes or among the Support.

 _It could also be the change in cloths as well._ Draven muses thoughtfully as well as one of the guards holds White-Out while the other shackles the wrists and ankles. In the end, it matters not, Healer Bina could only suggest that it's some kind of Gods' Blessing upon the Hero, she had been unsure if all the Heroes and Support have it or if it's only granted when they are captured. Either way, it means that he doesn't have to order that the cell is to be added to the cleaning duty nor does he have to order the 'washing' of the Hero.

"There should be a special collar in my office, fetch it for me please." He state upon opening his Quest Log and checking the Quest for an update. Soon enough, it's just the single guard alone with the prisoner and himself.

Yes, he wants that stick gone from the mouth but he isn't going to chance anything just yet, given that the Quest did warn against allowing White-Out the use of his voice. Plus, the latest prisoner stirs and then jerks wide awake, then begins to glance around the cell. Teeth bite down more forcefully at the sight of him and those gemstone blue eyes glare at him.

White-Out tests his shackles and then glances down at his legs. The other guard returns and he, personally, clamps the collar about White-Out's check, even thought the Hero tries to fight against him by trying to sway to the sides. With it on, he takes one of the throwing knives and slices the leather. The stick gets spat at him but falls harmlessly to the ground as he puts the knife back.

"Let me go." He raises a simple eyebrow at the Hero. "Damn, it wasn't even fair! You just made those flyers and didn't even have the guts to track me down! Or even engage me in a fight! How's that not the actions of a coward?!"

"Who the fucking hell is that, you shitty excuse for a leopard?!" Bellows the other and with that, he decides to leave as the two Heroes are now yelling at each other. It seems his original prisoner's fire is back and one of the guards shuts and locks the door, then with a guard ahead of him and behind, they leave the prison area, heading up the stairs.

Closing the door and the yelling from below fades into nothingness. They part company as he heads for his office and the two head to the kitchen area to grab something to eat and drink. As he sits at his desk, Draven wonders when he can expect a visit from the insane Elf.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

It takes him a second to realize where to find the insane Elf and lets out a sigh as he gets out of his nice, warm, and comfortable bed. Draven manages to put something on, it was a quick pick really, and does a little to tame his hair before being forcefully Summoned to his own prison area. The Elf takes a moment to study him with what could only be, for Ultimate Doom at least, look in his eyes before turning back to said captured Elf Hero. "He is one of mine." There's a smug tone in announcing that.

Yea, the first prisoner is cursing and sniping, it seems that neither are really paying attention. It seems that the first prisoner isn't aware that he's here now. So, he turns a deaf ear to the ravings of the other Hero, being sure to focus on the two in the cell with him.

White-Out's expression darkens and regards him with a bit more interest their previous interactions. "So that makes nine then?" Inquires the Hero and there isn't a reply from the insane Elf, just a smirk.

"Some how, I find myself rather disappointed with this one." Remarks White-Out and he mentally sighs as Ultimate Doom's all defensive and offended over that causal remark. "Come now, he didn't capture me, he didn't do any of the hard work, just played off of the greed of the Players."

"I find it rather bemusing that your... Players would even consider twelve thousand gold to be a good amount to betray one of their own." He comments before Ultimate Doom could fall for the ploy the Hero is aiming for in a rather smooth tone. "In my mind, it's a rather insulting amount but then, I guess what I've heard about the current generation of Walking Legends and Wonder Makers concerning their mismanaging of their own funds and seemingly lacking the skills to barter are very true."

Ultimate Doom chuckles, clearly pleased with how he defused the Hero's comment. "That's one of the reasons why he's my favorite." States Ultimate Doom and White-Out is eyeing the two of them with a surprisingly good blank look.

"Give our previous discussion, I would have thought your... preferences would be towards the more... volatile temperament, particularly towards that Werewolf Boss of yours." White-Out comments in a dry and matter of fact tone. He doesn't need to glance at Ultimate Doom to know that the other Elf's mood has swiftly altered.

"Oh, I do just so _love_ the others but at the same time, there's just something to be said for someone who knows their proper place in my organization and prove themselves capable of long term planning." Ultimate Doom remarks and he doesn't like how true that comment was as he keeps his thoughts from showing. The insane Elf approaches near White-Out and taps the collar. "We won't be having that... conversation again, I can't have you or your Quirk around to spoil my plans."

"And just what are you so afraid of? Don't think I didn't notice how quick your anger turned to concern or would the better term be fright?" _Oh?_

Withdrawing the hand, Ultimate Doom turns sharply. "Bring him." The insane Elf states.

"Might I inquire as to his fate?" He asks as he casually uses a paralyze spell upon the Elf Hero. Already moving to unlock the shackles, curious if he'll get an answer while his mind races in how to keep the insane Elf from making off with the Hero.

"Hmm..." It's clear that Ultimate Doom isn't sure himself. He easily swings the now unshackled Hero over his shoulder and politely waits for the insane Elf to figure something out.

"Shackle him back up, I have something to research." And with that, the insane Elf vanishes in a whirl of shadows. He casts a spell of silence upon the cell and then gently puts the Elf Hero down, being sure the back is near the wall and moves to stand by the door, waiting for the Hero to recover as he mentally works on how to get some trust out of the Elf so that he can get a measure of the truth.

White-Out scowls and moves to get up, but there's interest there, in those eyes. "What is it that you want, Devil?" The Hero finally asks but makes no move to pull out a weapon.

"I'm a Devil, what do you think I want?" He muses with a hint of amusement. The Hero scowls and tugs on the collar but he can see through the mask of neutral blankness.

"To be betray him, I think." Finally White-Out states. "I want free of him, yes, but I'm more interested in what power your... Quirk is and whether it can help me get pass a mental block that I seem to possess."

"You see, there are... inconsistencies concerning between what life I know I lived and the emotions I seem to possess." Draven finally admits after taking a second to consider how to explain it. Eyes widen slightly but the other clamps down on the emotion.

"And how do I know that once I helped you that I won't find myself... Well, tossed aside." Remarks White-out. Both studying each other in a wary kind of way.

"You don't." He agrees before adding, "But, for some reason, I think you'll want to take me up on this offer."

"And how, do you plan to go about winning my trust?" White-Out inquires and he gives the Hero a thin smile. "Why, not being shackled to the wall."

"Which means you expect me to not try and leave this cell then." The Elf muses. "Well, trust has to be given in order to be earned." He informs the Hero.

"Devils are two face." Remarks the Elf Hero with a frown. "Hardly our fault that the Order don't like employing magically binding contracts or teaches how to properly use and read Fae Runic Language." Draven states with a simple shrug.

"... You mean those things are actual things?" White-Out asks in a tone of disbelief and he moves quickly and moves the Hero's wrist, feeding a bit of magic into the skin before White-Out pulls away, but he activates the Gods' Marking. Within seconds, the layers of the Seal, a total of twenty-four, is on display. "Why yes, they do exist." He says in a dry tone, White-Out doesn't really look away form the slowly rotating Seal that makes up the Gods' Marking which is a magical contract between the Hero or Support to the Pantheon of Gods that Order worship.

The Gods' Marking slowly withdraw back into the wrist and he waits for White-Out to speak. It's clear that none of the priesthood have done much to teach the current generation of Heroes and Support, which really should be surprising yet, it doesn't. He's reviewed the previous generations of Walking Legends and Wonder Makers and it's clear that something more is going on among the Order's ranks, perhaps it's due to such a large gap of time between the previous and current generation, but there seems to be corruption among the Order, one that reaches into the priesthood it seems.

White-Out manages to spark the Gods' Marking and once more, the magical Seal appears but not in its total layers. "These markings are Fae Runes?" Asks White-Out as the Hero finally look up at him, there's excitement in those blue eyes.

"Yes, the Runes the Gods of Order use are called the Light set. The ones Orcs and the goblin breeds are the Blood set." He answers, not sure if he really should be sharing this but, being a source of likely needful information... Yes, White-Out won't be leaving, not now, the price of keeping him here is rather cheap all things considered.

"How many sets are there?" White-Out asks and he replies, "Hard to say, really, there's the Pure sets and then there's the Patchwork sets. It's hard to say what which sets are which, only the Gentry likely know and they left ages ago, heading into the black expanse instead of crafting a dimensional world of their own."

"Fine, I won't try to leave." White-Out states after frowning and running a hand through his hair. Now to figure out how to prevent Ultimate Doom from entering right into the cell without any warning. He thinks to himself as he gives a nod of acknowledgement.

He leaves and locks the door behind him, content that things were looking up.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

Hitoshi allows himself to relax now that Gentleman Draven Ose is gone for a few minutes, the silence spell also fade and he can hear Lord_Murder|Exploder shouting out abuse. Yea, nobody really cared that the Adventurer Player had vanished and nobody has heard from him for almost two months. He accesses his Inventory and pulls out his sleeping bag plus something to eat.

Calling up his Friend List, he selects ErasingError and begins to type out a report, namely how he got turned in, the names of those Players who let their greed overcome their common sense, and then mentioning about Gentleman Draven Ose, his relationship as serving under Ultimate Doom and it seems that the shackles of the cells interfere with use of his Character Menu. His gaze strays towards his wrist and sports that Gods' Marking, suddenly wondering if it the just something that's typical when it comes to any shackles, after all, the metal does cover the spot rather easily.

He puts that into the message along with the information the Devil mentioned concerning the Runic language along with mentioning that there is such a thing as a magical contract and it sounds like the Order doesn't employ them. Then he explains how to bring up the Gods' Marking, questioning why none of the NPCs of the Order bothered to demonstrate how to call up the magical Seal that makes up the Gods' Marking. He also mentions that it seems that the Devil is going to try and win his trust, as he's not shackled to the wall but he's been asked not to try and leave his cell.

Hitoshi mentions that his Quirk is being canceled due to a collar and that, there's hope that he could get the Devil to remove it. He doesn't trust this Devil but, well, he doesn't have to trust the Devil, just trust that he'll uphold his bargain. He does mention Lord_Murder|Exploder being held here, it's more of an after thought.

He sends the message and then eats some jerky to get rid of his hunger condition, along with the phantom pangs of hunger. With that, he moves into the sleeping bag and for the first time since his capture, he actually gets a restful sleep.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

Sitting on the chair and across from Draven, the leopard themed Devil is studying the game board upon the table. It's been two weeks going on three since that visit from Ultimate Doom and the Devil has visited him four days after, their discussion had been short but he get a few questions answered and put in a request for a book, due to him being bored. A guard delivered a book in the afternoon, it was different then the books he's usually found within the Order's Libraries, for one, the author was a Minotaur and for another, the tale's tone was different, likely due to the influence of what culture the Minotaur race came from if he were forced to guess.

It also somehow was suitable for his mood, even if sported too much drama for his taste and the tragedies within could be avoided if they just talked with one another or by employing common sense, well, what he thinks is common sense. Still, the next day, Draven arrives and inquires if he wished for another book or if he's still not done reading the first. Which led to him criticizing the book and it's clear that the Devil finds his thoughts of the book to be amusing.

Returning the book, the Devil left and that afternoon, he gets another book, this time, it's a collection of short stories. The collector being a Hobgoblin. Each story was clearly from different races, including a few from Order belonging races. There's at least two stories from each race, some are what you'd expect and others... not so much. Which might be why the Hobgoblin put which story came from what race at the back of the book.

And now, he's out of the cell for the second time, the previous time had been so he could use the bathing pool. That had been two days previously and now, since he is following ErasingError's order concerning learning the basics of the Fae Runic Language, he's being taught a game that's not unlike scramble only with a more magical bend. The game is that of a child's and he's not sure about which race created it, after all, the Devil doesn't fully know the rules that well himself, he's only got an edge due to being more familiar with the Runic language.

"Devil made?" He finally asks curiously. "Rakshasa." His foe states while focus totally on his titles with a look of concentration.

Huh. He kind of felt that Draven is telling the truth. "You... look different then your... underlings." He notes and the Devil sitting across from him snorts.

"Of course I do, I'm born to the House Ose." The leopard themed Devil states as if it explained everything, but, it kind of doesn't, to him. Draven turns a few tiles before sighing, taking a blue gem, he places it on the board, signaling he's passing his turn.

"So all members of House Ose look similar to you?" He asks curious as he lays out two of his tiles, completing a Seal, which earns him all the gems that's on the board. The Devil discards all four of his tiles and draws from the blank pile, they light up with a bit of magic on the side the gray skinned Devil holds up at himself.

"No, there are some who's other House parentage shine through a touch more strongly then the House they are born in." Explains the Devil. "And if they prove they have more in common with that other House, then the Head of House, in the case of my own, it will be the President of House Ose, either approaches or is approached by either the other Head of House or, if the House is of higher standing, by a representative of that House concerning the transference of said Devil to the other House."

"These Houses are Nobility for Devils." He muses. Which explains the differences in appearances.

"We Devils have Seventy-two Pillar Houses, President tier is the lowest among the Nobility with King tier being the highest." Draven informs him, taking a moment to study him. "And yes, all the Devils I have hired are what we term common Devils."

"Can't afford to hire another Noble or is it more due to fear of being over thrown?" Draven chuckles and he blinks, kind of taken back by the sudden expression of emotion. "While old enough to be out on our own, to survive by out own devices, we are not yet considered adults by our Races standards. The life span of a Pillar Devil are far greater then that of a non-Pillar Devil."

"Simply put, we each get some funds and are allowed to leave the Underworld in pursuit of our personal desires or indulging in baser instincts." He blinks while the Devil continues. "As long as we do so outside of the Underworld, we are allowed a great deal of freedom until we either die before our times due to our ill thought out choice of life style or we manage to live to be a century of age, returning to our respective House much wiser and ready to settle into productive roles within our House, all the while seeking opportunities to advance ourselves within our Houses social ladder."

"So... your pretty much a teenager in your race's eyes." Hitoshi summarizes and Draven clearly doesn't see the point in commenting for or against that assumption. He finds it kind of interesting and on some level making him a touch more confident in regards to dealing with the Devil, after all, it's clear that the Devil is young and still starting out concerning this stage of life as an independent teenager. Then again, it's clear that, as a Noble, the other has received training in social skills meant to allow him to command over those lower then his own social standing, both the positive and negative.

 _And yet he makes better company then most that I can name off the top of my head._ He mentally admits with a touch of sourness. It's tiring dealing with the swears and empty threats of his fellow captive.

A few rounds and he finally asks, "Why haven't you killed him?" The Devil raises a slight eyebrow and he expands, "Lord_Murder|Exploder."

There's a slight look of confusion in those purple eyes before the other gets it. "Ah, that one. There's no point in killing him, he'll just revive at an Order Graveyard or Temple and given his character, likely try hunting me down after recruiting others." _Ok, point to you._ "After all, he can't escape nor cause harm beyond that to ones ears from the volume of his voice these days. His cussing isn't very creative nor does he seem to thrive very well without an audience who is overly responsive, in either regard of positivity or negativity."

 _Huh. That's something to think about._ He mentally admits. It's times like this that he feels like he's talking to an actual person and not some well crafted AI meant to act out a NPC.

"And until I arrived, you and your underlings can easily just avoid the cells, so there wasn't any point in investing in a permanent silencing spell on his cell." He remarks and Draven hums in agreement. "So, why did you capture him in the first place?"

"I was curious if I could hold one of you indefinitely without needing to feed him or provide drink." Remarks the Devil. "It has been... an interesting endeavor and rather enlightening."

He's not sure how he feels about that, then again, it's true that it's not like they actually need to eat or drink, it's just simple phantom sensations that can be ignored. "You haven't been... You know, doing anything else?" He asks.

"Brought in a Healer to ensure that he wasn't suffering any harm from lack of food and drink." The other finally admits after studying him for a minute. "What we found most interesting as to do with the lack of waste and ill body odor. It was rather puzzling, I thought I'd at least have to move him from cell to cell in order to clean up any messes."

It's clear that it baffles the Devil every so slightly and he guesses he could maybe see where the NPC is coming from. "No torturing him?" And Draven sighs softly, "No point, he's not someone who possess much in the way of empathy and is rather self centered. We're all 'data' trash this one day, the next fucking bits of shitty 'coding' mob that, etc, etc."

"And if your not careful, he'd die from said torture." He notes and Draven's lips turn up every so slightly but doesn't reply. Then again, that's telling enough and, well, yea, it seems that until somebody decides to rally a large enough raiding party of Players to storm this fort, Lord_Murder|Exploder is safe and not bullying anyone verbally or otherwise.

Looking down at his tiles, he does his best to remind himself that this Devil will be turning him over to Ultimate Doom, after all said and done. And yet, he can't help but find himself growing rather fond of the Devil simply due to the fact that the guy hasn't gone back on his word.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

A guard knocks on the door, waking him. "Put the stuff away, we're about to get a visit from that Elf. Gentleman Ose says to tell you if you put the shackles on yourself, you'll be able to get out of them as well." With that, the Devil heads off and it takes him a few seconds to mutter a curse.

Hitoshi does put the sleeping bag away and frowns as he studies the shackles, not sure if he should trust whatever it is that Draven had planned. In the end, he moves and testing the shackles around his feet, he can close and open them, he bites his lower lip but does shackle himself to the wall, wondering just what the Devil's plan is concerning Ultimate Doom. Being nervous, it feels like time is passing by far too slowly.

Then the door opens, slamming slightly against the wall, which wakes the other prisoner, who does what he typically does and spews repeating insults and curse words. Then he jerks at the sight of the insane Elf looking at him through the barred window of the door. "Still haven't relieved him of his weapons or armor?"

"The Human's manners might improve if he was wearing the appropriate attire." Response Draven in a rather neutral tone. There's more cursing coming from Lord_Murder|Exploder.

"And you didn't see fit to do the same for this one?" Even he knows that's a trap and yet, it seems that the Devil seems to know how to disarm it. "I apology for not thinking to dress your prisoner up as my own prisoner."

 _Oh... Good one._ He couldn't help but think. "He is mine." Muses Ultimate Doom and the Elf moves back, he watches as Draven stands before the door, then opens it, moving to the side like a well mannered butler, allowing the unstable Player into the cell. "It's good to see you once again, aren't you happy to see me? I'm sure your stay here isn't what it could have been."

"I've been well enough and are you who I file complaints with concerning my stay? I mean, I kind of have this major one but your pet Devil didn't see fit to fulfill it." He remarks drily.

"Oh, and what request was that?" And the guy just walks right into that one. "My freedom." Is the easy reply and emotions flicker about before the insane Player choices to laugh.

He keeps his eyes on Ultimate Doom given that he's pretty sure that Draven is exercising his social training in this little encounter. "Well, yes, that issue. Oh, don't worry, you'll have your freedom... from this cell." He does his best to not flinch at the reminder of why the Elf is here.

"Oh yes, I have something planned for you." There's a wide, predatory smirk with eyes glinting with dark amusement. "I'm sure it wouldn't hurt... much."

"So, time spent behind another set of bars and still no room service? I think I'll pass as I have enough of that here." He remarks. "I might not have visited your establishment as of yet, but I think I know I have a better thing going on here, with your pet." He kind of expects a glare but a lazy look sent the Devil's way shows very little in the way of emotion nor does the pose seem to give anything away.

"Maybe after I'm done with you, I'll return you to my favorite's possession." Remarks the Player. "Unshackle him, I'll be taking him."

"Of course." And he's hit with a paralyzing spell before Draven approaches, and like before, the Devil asks the all important question, "I hope your previous testing went well in preparation for this one's fate."

"Testing! Who needs... I mean, it should..." He's on the Devil's shoulder now as Ultimate Doom muddles with worry and personal pride.

"Perhaps we should take my other prisoner along to ensure that your course of action will result in what it is you aim for." Suggests the Devil, he'd relax if he could when it looks like the Player considers the suggestion. "You know, this is the second time you've offered that one to me." Muses the most likely real life Villain.

"If he is not to your liking then perhaps I should fetch you another? After all, if he dies then all this work in retrieving him goes to waste." _Like you actually worked to get me in the first place._ He thinks sourly at the Devil.

"Damn it, you're right! And I really wanted to turn him into a huge, blood thirsty monster!" Whines Ultimate Doom like a child and he's not sure if he should be thrilled at the stalling tactic or guilty because it could lead to other Players getting targeted. Then again, this is Lord_Murder|Exploder that's being offered and that guy... nobody likes him.

"We can take both and if everything works out, then you will have two huge, blood thirsty monsters." Reasons Draven. He's amazed at how much like a spoiled brat the Player is that the suggestion seems to brighten up Ultimate Doom's face, like it didn't occur to him before that he could have two in rapid succession.

 _Wouldn't take much for the blood thirsty part with that one._ He mentally muses as said prisoner continues to hurl curses and threats about without even realizing he's subject of a discussion, that his fate is being decided. The irony is, if the other would shut up for a few seconds, he might have been able to realize the danger he's in.

"Well, if he's unneeded..." Ultimate Doom remarks. "He's served his purpose some time ago." Assures Draven. "Then I accept."

The Devil waits for the other Elf Player to exit out of the door. "We will be entering negotiations after this, Hero." Murmurs the Devil before following after the Player.

He would have stiffen if he could, jerk his head and looked at the Devil. After all, nobody ever called any of the Players that, although they mention them being heroic, but that could be switched out with brave. In fact, there's no linkage between an Adventurer or Laborer sporting the title of Hero. In fact, most NPCs act like the word doesn't even exist nor do they seem to register the word if one asked them for a random tale concerning a local Hero, you'd just be asked about 'what kind of story are you interested in again?'

 _So, how can he know of that word? Never mind think to call me one?_

To be continued . . .

Author's Note: Taking FireHedgeHog's advice and creating an actual story for this. Yea, I reached three chapters now, will be posting the second come September 3, 2018. Also doing some minor edits to the first chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

Sighing, he holds up the glass filled with wine. He's pleased that he managed to keep White-Out from being taken out of his possession but at the same time, there's a choice, a crossroads coming up and it's coming up fast. It's a question of will he allow White-Out suffer through what the insane Elf has in mind or will he turn a blink eye, allowing the Hero to escape?

In the two months of having White-Out within his fort, he's grown to enjoy the company the Hero provides. There's a spark in the Hero Elf that... is lacking in his underlings. It feels likes he's been thirsty for so long and he's only just started to realize it, started to drink and quench this thirst, which causes him to scowl as he drinks from the wine glass, downing it with ease.

His emotions are a mess, he knows this and by all rights they shouldn't be! Even now, he's feeling guilt over what he engineered with that Human he captured and self-loathing over the fact that he tossed the foul tempered Human in Ultimate Doom's path in order to save White-Out, who has proven to be more cooperative and possessing an interesting ability that is clear that Ultimate Doom feels threaten by it. Logically, the Human served his use and is now being useful by keeping the insane Elf away from himself and not thinking about the Hero he still possesses.

"And I didn't even do anything! It's not like I knew he was going to try a bastardize poly-morph ritual to forcefully change anyone's race into that of a monster." He reasons to himself. "I did nothing to sabotage the ritual! It's hardly my fault he never thought to test it!"

He pours himself more wine, although he's tempted to take the bottle and drink directly from it. In the end, he takes tiny sips as he leans in his office chair, the bottle resting on the desk. He's not paying attention to his surroundings as he's too focus on his feelings and trying to manage them, so, yea, at some point, there's a sharp thing entering his skin.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"Well, that, was easy." Hitoshi muses softly to himself as he stares at the Devil that's been knocked out with a dart filled with sleeping potion. During the chaos of what happened with that ritual, he'd been in contact with ErasingError and, well, the older Player promised to gather a small party of Players to join him for questing the Devil.

And then, as he moves around, he realizes that, yea, he's not going to be able to do more then drag Draven towards the couch as it seems that the Devil is far heavier then he appears to be. Then again, the Devil is an inch or two over six feet in height but still limber and sporting an athletic build. It takes a lot out of him to get the Devil onto the only couch in the room.

He's sure to apply another dose of sleeping potion before searching through the desk, most of the writing is in what he's assuming to be the written language of Devils while the other that he could read look like the rough drafts of a contract between Draven and his in-game name. "Oh, so that's... huh." Yea, it does detail him getting the collar off in order to see what this ability of his was. Not that it matters now as he had snagged a key chain from the wall during the chaos and unlocked his collar before putting them back and using a bit of fast drying glue to hold it kind of closed, then again, given the excitement, nobody really checked him over before they returned to the fort.

It's clear at least one of the drafts looks like an almost completed contract and it mostly deals with him, truthfully, explaining his Quirk, not that the Devil called it that. It also left blank what he'd receive in turn for the information, which might have been what the Devil meant by entering negotiations. Yes, the contract does say he couldn't ask to be released after fulfilling his terms of the contract but that's to be expected. The other drafts were clearly drawn up with different expectations concerning what his potential Quirk would turn out to be, none really hitting the mark but a few did cause him to grin.

Shaking his head, he checks the bottle and finds it's just wine. The dropped glass didn't shatter and didn't have any wine left so there's nothing to clean up, so he picks up the glass and places it on the desk. He applies his third dose after finding a book to read from the book case, waiting for the others to show. He does his best to keep an eye on the clock, after all, it wouldn't do for Draven to wake.

As it's about time to apply it the fifth time, the party of three arrive and manage to sneak into the courtyard, signalling him. Hitoshi opens the office window and signals back before pulling out a rope and tying it securely then tossing it out the window. The trio are quick to climb up and they pull the rope up before closing the window. He's untying the rope as the three take in the office, one whistling in an impressed sort of way.

"Fancy." He tries not to snort, having come to terms that yes, the Devil is very much a member of Nobility and thus, has the usual showy displays of status but also were functional. Then again, cost effectiveness could play a role in that as well.

"Smarten up, Pezntation." ErasingError, the Dwarf Laborer, snaps at the Halfing Adventurer while Night/s_Thorns, another Adventure and a fellow Elf Player, smirks slightly before covering it behind a hand. "Ready?" ErasingError asks him and he nods.

The Devil stirs and he murmurs, "Hey, how's your morning going?" Draven responses with a groan before murmuring his in game ID.

He feels his Quirk take hold and commands the Devil into summarizing his encounters with Ultimate Doom, which, surprisingly enough, didn't amount to much information. A few seconds passes and his Quirk holds, which is rather unexpected as when he's used it on NPCs before, after his only command is fulfilled, it reboots the AI and he has to trick the NPC into responding to him again, only it isn't happening. "He's still under the effects." He reports, realizing that the others don't know that detail to get why he looks so surprised.

"And that's unusual?" Inquires Pezntation. "Yes, when I use it on NPCs, I only get to issue one command before they reboot and I have to trick them into allowing me to activate my Quirk again." He explains.

"But not with Players." ErasingError muses and he gives a slight nod as he kind of tries to make sense of his emotions. "I didn't pay it much mind, back when he kept me form being taken the first time, but he mentioned something about his emotions not matching up with his life." Hitoshi slowly mentions while the others seem to be having a private discussion.

"Tell us in detail about your first encounter with Ultimate Doom." He glances at the others in a questioning before ErasingError gives him a slight raised eyebrow, which is why he decided to see if there's things that Draven likely over looked due to the way Ultimate Doom acted or spoke. After all, what better place to start then the beginning? And that proved to be very informative in a way that it's clear why he'd been marked down as such a major threat to the insane Player and his in game plans. It's also what causes him to give Draven a look of pity and yet, there's a bit of relief there was well, after all, if they could wrestle Draven out from whatever it is Ultimate Doom's done, they could have access to more in game information and someone capable of interacting more with the Order's enemies then just in a hostile manner, which might be useful for something.

"I'll start taking notes." Night/s_Thorns says to some unspoken request and Pezntation moves to look through the bookshelf. "We'll have him go through each encounter in detail to see if he dropped more hints or explained things knowing they can't put the pieces together." ErasingError says and so, they go through a good year and some months worth of information and yea, turns out that each year in game is only a month in the real world, meaning that in close to ten in game years and they'll be free to log out. His pity only grows and a sense of anger on the other's behalf roars to life given some of the 'orders' Ultimate Doom has given the brainwashed Player that were clearly meant to cause humiliation and set about trying to push Draven into rebelling or acting out just for the excuse of 'punishing' him. It hardly matters that Draven's tone remains rather aloof and neutral when describing said things in such a way that implies he's not personally bothered by it.

And then there's the minor things to review and he's sure to do as ErasingError asks when it comes to questioning the Player brainwashed into the role of a NPC. It's rather surprising that they are left undisturbed for so long but then, it's not like Draven is in any condition to sound an alarm. And yea, it turns out that nope, the Devil Player didn't do anything to cause that ritual earlier from doing what it did to Lord_Murder|Exploder, just noted that it's highly unlikely that Ultimate Doom, or the insane Elf as Draven prefers to call him, would have thought to test whatever was planned a head of time and when he learnt it was going to be a poly-morph ritual, to have experts review the ritual's Runic array to see if there's any conflicting Runes. So basically, Draven's long since pegged the other as an impulsive individual who's got more power then sense. It's pretty clear that the Player is a very observant person and also comes across as organized.

 _So adult._ Hitoshi muses to himself. "Tell us how old you are outside of the game." It's more for his curiosity but also it's a question could Draven talk about who he actually is.

"Thirteen." It takes Draven a bit and there's a few false starts as well, it's said in a very different voice as well, one that actually does sound like a fellow teen. Everyone seems suddenly alert at this and he can't help but feel a bit skeptical, after all, the Avatar is clearly outside of the five year age range.

"His name." Suggests Pezntation and he nods, giving the order, "Tell us your real life name." And here, there's a bit more of a struggle as the head turns and more false starts with the mouth opening and closing, if he were to guess, if the Devil Avatar could sweat, he'd be sweating. He also feels his Quirk almost let go but his mental 'grip' does stabilize and in that, more then actual voice of the Player, "Midoriya Izuku."

"Order him to go back to sleep." Pezntation says while looking right at ErasingError and he nods, there's no fight and his Quirk releases upon Izu... Dra... the Devil Player falls asleep. ErasingError stalks towards the other side of the room and he's running a hand through his hair, after all, this has proven to be a trying day, never mind the fact that now, it's a question of what do they do concerning, well, Draven, as Izuku just doesn't fit and it might as well be the Player's in game ID.

"Good job, kid." Pezntation says and then heads over to where ErasingError is. "Agreed, you really showed some great initiative." Night/s_Thorns informs with an encouraging smile directed at him.

He ducks his head, it's likely that if his Avatar could, it would be blushing at the praise. "Thanks, I guess but, well, it's not like I'm fully responsible for, you know, still being here for us to do this." _Hero._ He recalls it now, Draven called him a Hero before carrying him out of the cell the late just, was it really just last night?

"Well, for now, your the one who needs to hear it." She tells him and smiles slightly before looking back at Draven, it fades as he suddenly feels exhausted. He wonders if he'd ignored all those hints that Draven tossed out that could be read as attempts to reach out to him for help, he hadn't really cared about Draven's emotional crisis nor had he thought about why the slow pace when it came to getting around to explaining why Draven went to the effort to keep him from getting taken. Looking back, it kind of did beg the question of how he didn't realize the fact that there was no Quest that simply wrote itself up in his Quest Log when it came to Draven's intentions.

 _Then again, when dealing with the other eight brainwashed Players, no Quests ever popped up as well. Everyone just wrote it off as a feature that was turned off in regards to those 'Bosses'._ Shinsou mentally notes. Hindsight, he heard, was twenty-twenty.

"I think I'm going to take a nap." He admits to Night/s_Thorns and the other Player smiles at him. "Sounds good, we'll wake you when he begins to stir. We should have something worked out by then." She tells him and he nods.

Taking out his sleeping bag, he unrolls it and switching out his cloths, a sign of trust, to something simple, he crawls into his sleeping bag and between the effects of the sleepwear and the sleeping bag, he's out within seconds.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

It's Pezntation that shakes him awake and within two seconds, he recalls why he's in Draven's Office. He's quick to get out and to switch things around plus putting his sleeping bag away. ErasingError is seated behind Draven's desk and Night/s_Thorns is standing at attention before said desk. Not long before he follows the example of both her and of Pezntation, he kind of wonders at the almost beyond flat look he gets while the other two seem rather bemused by his course of action.

"Wish we had a camera." Mutters Pezntation, which earns a sour look from ErasingError. "Any rate, we have a workings of a few plans but we'd like to see if you can't first simply break the conditioning he's under. If not, then we'll see about working out the limits of what's what but we're expecting that it'll set off an alert to Ultimate Doom that his... 'toy' is getting messed with at which point, you'll order Draven's and Izuku's personalities to merge, given some things we've learnt, we believe that the result will not be working for Ultimate Doom in any complicity." _Even if he won't be working for us._

Shinsou nods, he's more then willing to hope that it won't come to that but, well, they really don't know what they are dealing with when it comes to how it is Draven hasn't managed to snap himself out of this brainwashing, not when he's had so many clues pretty much thrown in his face but can't seem to fit them together or make sense of them. Then again, given the fact that what's been done to him clearly makes him believe he's actually a NPC of the world and that he's pretty much written the Villain off as insane and thus doesn't put much weight on what's been told to him. Still, they might get lucky and they'd be able to figure out a work around.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

His mind is in turmoil while his office is getting destroyed. The rabid ravings of the insane Elf... _"Villain. He's got to be a Villain."_ A part of him reasons and he then understands what that word means, it does fit but it's also lacking in ways to fully describe them.

"Gentleman Ose! What are your orders?" Asks one of his guards. _"NPCs, non player characters and Devils aren't suppose to be a Player race."_ His eyes drift towards the two.

"Attack them!" Declares the insane Villain but he holds his hand up in a hold action, keeping them from obeying. More of his office is destroyed. _"Since when did I have an office?"_ Wonders a part of him.

 _'Since I ordered it built so that I have an organized place to work in.'_ He thinks back calmly and seconds later a wave of understanding flows into him. "They are under my command." Draven states as he glares at the Elf who tried to give orders to _his_ **forces**. "They obey me." He states in a icy tone.

"And you are mine to command! There for they are mine as well!" Snaps seemingly villainous Elf.

"I am of House Ose, I answer to my House, not to a rabid Elf such as you." He moves and stands, not as gracefully as he'd like, his body feels so much larger then it should and everything seems so much smaller. "If you don't vacate my holding, I will order my forces to attack you for your disrespect."

 _"Will it work? Help turn the tide?"_ Asks that part and he replies back, honestly, _'No, it will be a slaughter and chances are, I will die in the engagement.'_

 _"You mean we'd die."_ The part whispers. _'All are fated to die, it's the road leading there that determines how quick you met it.'_ He mentally remarks while the insane Elf hurls abuse and more then a few spells at the four...

 _"Adventurers and Laborer."_ Responds that part of him. _'Heroes and Support is what I've been calling them.'_ He confesses and there's a feeling of laughter.

He knows White-Out and dimly wonders why the other is here, then again, perhaps the answer lies with the other three? _"They were questioning us, don't you remember? White-Out, he ordered us to merge."_ The voice explains. _"His Quirk must be something, if it can work in game."_

He knows the insane Elf Villain and as he remembers, that part begins to fill in what he's been missing during those encounters. He's become rather lose in his own mind that he doesn't react when he's hit by a spell, sending him into the couch. _"We... I believe it's time to join the fight."_ That part of him that is Izuku states and, yes, it's best to deal with what's before him now, he can figure out more of this merging thing later, when the insane Player Villain is either gone or when he's dead in the afterlife.

Reaching into his Dimensional Pocket, he brings out a long sword. Pouring some magic into the sword, the magic array activates and a flame sporting various shades of gray wrap themselves around the blade, he gets to his feet and does his best to evade any incoming spells, charging at the insane Elf. The parchment that sported the magical array turns to ash as he lands a slice. "Either fall back or give aid." He snaps at his guards as the flame fades from his sword's blade.

He's both curious over what just happened and just pleased that it worked on villainous, insane Elf or else the parchment would simply fall off the blade's hilt. It's now a question of if it'll alter things in benefit of himself and his forces. _"Let's not forget the others, they helped make this possible too."_ Remarks that part of him that is Izuku.

A pair of his guards join, he's not sure what's going on with the four but it hardly matters, for all he knows, they might retreat, after all, they hadn't looked to healthy.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

Chugging another Heal Potion, he watches as Draven along with two guards engage in melee battle with Ultimate Doom. It was so nice to see that at least part of their gamble paid off as the Devil Player is now taking a stand against Ultimate Doom but at the same time, it's clear that there's misjudgements going on, like he's not as coordinated as he should be. _Like he's not use to how his body is built._ Hitoshi notes to himself.

Not that surprising, as what thirteen year old is normally a few inches over six feet in height? Still, some gray would creep into Ultimate Doom's eyes, which seems to either halt the Villain or cause the other to stand a touch straighter, getting this superior sneer on his face before it fades. Which means brings to him the gray flame that had covered the long sword earlier.

"What did he do?" Wonders Pezntation and he shrugs, remarking, "Don't know but it's the cause of those pauses or mood changes. If you watch his eyes, they go totally gray when he's does it but when he breaks out of it, the gray retreats."

"Why is it even effecting him? I thought he's protected from spells cast by Players." He wonders. "He's not your average Player." Reasons ErasingError. "For one, his Avatar is a Devil and for another, that might be a racial feature."

"Or House..." Hitoshi realizes with slight widening of his eyes. He notices the looks two of the three give him. "He's not a common Devil, according to him, he's not even qualified as an adult by Noble Devil standards as he's not a century old. I mean, it's got to be more then just looks and aging, they got to have developed something more to separate them from the common members of their race."

"And this game does sport elements from various mythology and magical creatures." Reasons Night/s_Thorns. "Did he talk about it more?"

"Well, there's Seventy-Two Pillars of Nobility. House Ose is the lowest tier and sport the title of President while the highest tier is King." He recalls. "His being here along with other members of Nobility have to due with just blowing off time and steam until they reach adulthood. It kind of sounds like as long as they don't mess up in the Underworld, their House doesn't care what they do until they are adults."

"None of the Devils attack when he acts under the effects." Notes ErasingError, who seems to be totally focus on the fight. "Which means, if we were to resume, we'll have to do the same."

"Resume? Of course we'll resume!" Pezntation snaps in an offended tone and clearly puffing up.

He pulls out a throwing knife and the others ready themselves. The moment Ultimate Doom returns to fighting, he throws the knife while Night/s_Thorns uses her crossbow and Pezntation goes in with a war pick. As for ErasingError, he readies a sling shot with some kind of ammo.

Once more in combat, he can see Ultimate Doom's health bar and notices that it goes gray when the eyes do the same. By the time they get the other's health to just under half, it's odd how the Villain's health bar isn't regenerating as it did during that one encounter or when others reported encounters with said Player. That's when the whole health bar not only fills with gray but also gets fire effects.

There's a sneer upon Ultimate Doom's face while a lazy look of complete conviction that not normal. "I believe I've wasted enough time here." Ultimate Doom turns to stare and turns his nose up at Draven. "I'm more then capable of finding someone better then you. You're not worth the continued effort to bring you to see reason." And the insane Player vanishes.

"That's... not like him." He remarks and Draven merely hums, the long sword vanishing. "We'll be retiring to the kitchen. In the mean time, start having people clean up and assess the damages down, I will want to know what can be repair or what should be replaced." The Devil states, the two guards nod before heading off to carrying out those orders, the other guards begin coming in and taking up spot around the room.

Without a word, Draven leaves the office in a manner that suggests that he expect them to follow. He's the first to step in line to follow, it's kind of habit at this point and the others follow after a few seconds later. He's not sure what to expect, really, after all, he knows Draven to some extent but Izuku? He's an unknown and he's Quirkless, which, well, is kind of rare these days, and it's unknown factor, after all, how many times has he reassured himself with 'at least I'm not Quirkless' growing up?

They reach the kitchen and Draven dismisses the staff, who look like they were done clearing up, likely getting ready to begin cooking only for, yea, so they likely put the stuff away and had been waiting around. With them gone, Draven moves to grab a fruit from the basket before quirking an eyebrow at them as they stand near the entrance. Taking a bite out of it, Draven comments, "It hardly matters, I think of how you three got here or wondering how you got your collar off."

Gemstone purple eyes sweep them and he does his best not to wince at, well, he only recalls he promised not to escape the fort and he hadn't... yet. "I... Don't really know what this means for..." Draven looks away, looking rather at a loss at, well, what to say or likely what to do next.

"So... How much..." He kind of begins after a few minutes of silence where nobody seems interested in breaking it.

"How it's merging together? It's... hard to describe and for the most part, that which is Izuku isn't... bold and there's a lot of... insecurities." Admits Draven slowly. "Then there's... Well, I guess, Draven, who's pretty much just adrift in the world at the moment, got some idea of what he wants for the future but knows that it'll take time to get things organized or set up. And yea, there's the whole, raised as a Noble and knowing there's expectations waiting for him concerning his House and his roles within it."

A hand goes through the white hair. "It's frankly, going to be a mess and that's not dealing with the whole identity crisis. Izuku's got a hell of a lot of emotional bagged from..." Here the other Player frowns, looking torn before admitting something or just keeping silent on the matter. It's kind of interesting, watching the by play of two different people trying to take over.

"Bullying." Night/s_Thorns remarks and there's a look of pure panic for a few seconds on and in Draven's face and eyes. "Yea." Admits Draven and it kind of clicks together why nothing Ultimate Doom did to humiliate the Devil Player worked, it had to do with the unknown responses that Izuku has in regards to that kind of treatment and while good in making sure that Draven doesn't act out like the other eight Quirkless Players, it's also a more personal, perhaps self focus emotional baggage.

ErasingError sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, before piping in, "White-Out will remain here and be our contact point." He blinks, a bit shocked at the idea. "After all, it's doubtful you have the same Character Menu as we do."

It takes a second for Draven's attention to switch to something and the way he moves his hand, yea, he's accessing his Character Menu. "Yea, I don't have a Friend List nor do I have a messaging system." Draven admits and then hums before doing the thing that allows a Player to show some part of their Character Menu. The Stats are, he sighs, but a glance at the level shows that the Devil isn't as high up as he's Stats show but then, it's likely influenced by his race or maybe he just trains them up easier.

Night/s_Thorns is taking notes again and he's kind of staring at ErasingError for the suggestion. Knowing that yea, they should have someone here to keep an eye on the rather unstable Player but at the same time, it means he's not as well protected. Looking away, he notices Draven looking down and it's clear that his attention isn't really on them now. It's hard to read what's going on in those almost cat like eyes and there's slight changes of the face as well.

There's really no way to know how truthful Draven is being without him employing his Quirk and he can't really find it in him to voice the question of whether he'd be with Draven, after all, the other had... but then, it was a choice between Lord_Murder|Exploder and himself, he knows it's selfish but he was relieved that Draven insisted on the Human Adventurer being used first. He's also glad that he wasn't in the position that Draven had been in choosing who to save and who to condemn, deciding who, ultimately, was the better one to save.

Then again, he kind of has to admit that in someways, Lord_Murder|Exploder kind of made it easy. It's not long before they finish up a few details and Draven gets around to eating more of his fruit. The Devil Player personally escorts the three to the gates and leaves instructions that if any Adventurer and Laborer approaches the fort, to alert Draven or Shinsou. He's a bit startled but does his best to hide it.

They watch the trio leave on Conjured mounts, the gates close and Draven moves to stand to stare up at the ruins of the office. Hitoshi glances around the area, taking note of the various work station. "There's a Quarry north west of here."

He is a touch startled and glances over at Draven, who seems to have noticed him watching some Devil workers moving some large slabs of stone. "Had to create an out post there or the Kobolds would reclaim it." And he blinks as he considers that.

"Any metal deposits?" He asks, it's a change in topic and it's something that is kind of interesting. "The appear almost every three days." Remarks the other Player.

"It's a slow process, replacing what was built with wood with stone but it means that we won't have to worry about an accidental fire ruining work that took days to construct." Continues the other. "I had plans from raiding out of this fort."

"Not going to continue with that?" He asks and Draven looks at the spot. "I... think plans are subject to change and that, I am in a unique position." Admits Draven in a slow, thoughtful tone.

"Like starting up your own city state?" He teasingly jokes and Draven gives him a slight smile. "That's an idea to consider at a later date."

He blinks and before he can try for more, the Devil Player changes the subject. "Might as well see if any of the rooms near my own can be turned into a bedroom for yourself." There's a dry look sent his way as the other remarks, "Even though you did seem to prefer the previous arrangement better then the unseen one that the insane Elf had for you."

It takes him a few seconds to recall when he ever said that as Draven is already walking for the building. Hitoshi snorts before moving to catch up. "A burning building would have been better then a guest wing at his base of operations." He counters the moment he's close enough to his... host.

"Then I'm sorry to inform you that at this moment, I am disincline to set any of my wooden structures aflame for your convince so I hope you can make do with a simple room made with stone and likely wooden furnishings, it might even have a window as well." Is the comments the Devil Player comes up with in a dry tone.

"Perhaps another day then." He replies with a large helping of sarcasm. Yet, he can't help but grin, after all, this is familiar to a certain degree and it helps to remind him of their odd kind of relationship, which, well, might become a friendship.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"So, External Advisor White-Out to Gentleman Ose of the Den of the Gray Leopard." Muses Hitoshi as he stares at contract of employment that Draven had handed him. "Wait, this fort is called the Den of the Gray Leopard?" He snorts and then chuckles after looking up at the 'said' leopard themed Devil.

"The leopard is considered the symbolic icon of House Ose." Explains the Devil Player. "I'm sure if you message those on your Friend List to research the various 'dungeons', I won't be surprise if there's a few mentions of leopard in the name of said places. I'm sure if you provide me with just a list of names of said places, I could pin point which ones were likely created by Devils."

"Huh." He sobers from his chuckling as he considers that. "I don't suppose you know where they got the ideas for the Devil's social structure?"

"From Ars Goetia, also considered linked to the Lesser Key of Solomon, it's a list of demons actually." Admits Draven. "There was this manga that got this anime called High School DxD that might have also served as inspiration, although the Devils in that looked far more human."

"Really? I would have thought it came from that old American game called Dungeons and Dragons." He admits. "Was it any good? Either, the manga or anime?"

"Ah, well, it's, you know, hentai harem ones." He raises his eyebrow at the Devil Player. "I mostly skimmed the world's details, which was more interesting then the story, which was typical concerning a single, underdog, pervert, and unaware of the supernatural teenage male gets transformed into a Devil by some high ranking member of Devil society and etc, etc." Draven waves the plot away.

"Any nudity?" He asks and he gets a flat look. "Ah, yea, it kind of would in order to be a hentai." He admits.

"Did you read the Ars one?" He changes the question and Draven shakes his head in a negative. "Didn't need to, just had to look it up on the internet. Comparing what I read to what I've gotten as a information download, most of the titles do line up concerning the Noble tiers, although there is different spelling of some of the Houses, but that's not surprising given how many alternate spelling of said names."

Hitoshi hums before looking back down at the contract. "So, probationary period of six months?" He returns to the subject of his contract. "Five silver a week doesn't seem that much."

"Barting is a thing, White-Out, you need to learn that stated price is not set in stone." Draven points out with a hint of a sigh and he notices how the Devil Player's right index finger twitches, likely resisting the urge to rub the bridge of his nose. "Besides, five silver is what I pay my novice craftspeople when they start. I pay the novice general staff a silver and those novice guards get eight silver."

"Skilled Devils get more then unskilled." He reasons out. "The guards get more because of the additional risk."

"I do offer pay raises after reviewing performances every three month." The Devil Player informs him. "Of course, since I hired different people at different times, I am usually reviewing someone's work performance each month."

"Huh, that explains a few things..." He reflects as he considers how it is that Draven has managed to keep the moral of the 'lesser' Devils up and the lack of complaint whispering. It's been a month since he commanded the two 'personalities' of Draven and Izuku to merge, it's been a rather rough period and he's had to, with Draven's permission, help smooth out any number of issues that cropped up while also learning more about the self-image issues Izuku had which lead to the delay mental and emotional trauma concerning Ultimate Doom's humiliation. Another major issue that came up has to do with gaps in the personalities between of Gentleman Draven Ose and Midoriya Izuku.

Hitoshi doesn't know what to make of the fact that it's clear that Draven trusts him, trusts him in a way he's never been trusted before and it's both frightening but bewildering with a great deal of uncertainty concerning if he's worthy of that trust. Nor does Draven seem hold any real anger concerning the collective decision to cause the merging to happen, it more like there's a half hearted anger aimed at Ultimate Doom and those who helped in the high jacked the teen Izuku into the persona of the Devil Gentleman Draven Ose, both knowing who, ultimately, is to blame for being the source of the why. Again, it's likely a lingering issue of Izuku's low self esteem and likely is unreasonably blaming himself for being 'weak'.

It's kind of karma that Lord_Muder|Exploder ended up captive of his former friend and preferred bullying victim. There is, perhaps, a chance that Bakugou might come out of this a better person, key word being might. He's also been messaging Night/s_Thorns about said emotional issues since ErasingError recommended her for advice and recommended he message her about his own issues over him using his Quirk on Draven. Shinsou kind of has, to some extent, particularly about his thoughts confusion on Draven's trust and Night/s_Thorns does want to meet up with them both within the next month or two for counseling.

He reads the contract a few more times but, well, there's nothing wrong with it beyond he kind of wanting more money. _But I'm not paying for the room, for having my laundry done, or for the food..._ He blinks as he reconsiders the month he's been living at the... Den of the Gray Leopard. "Well, I can't complain about the earnings given the free lodging and food."

Draven's mouth opens and then he thinks better of commenting, so closes it with the Devil Player rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'll be sure to get old recorders translated for you to read." Draven decides after a few minutes, clearly frustrated and likely dealing with a migraine. "I do get that this game is meant to make life difficult for Players because of spite but then there's the in game lore..."

"And you aren't in any secure position to interact with the general Player population." Hitoshi sighs in disappointment, which is another reason for the contract of employment as it means he'll become a permanent fixture within the fort without needing Draven's presence at the fort to keep him safe from the NPC Devils that inhabit the fort. Tapping the contract of employment, he clicks the accept option and there's a number of pop up messages informing him that he's unlocked a Title of External Advisor of Den of the Gray Leopard, unlocked the ability to sport Gentleman Draven Ose's personal seal, unlocked Reputation with Den of the Gray Leopard, unlocked the ability to use Workstations at Den of the Gray Leopard, unlocked Player Home at Den of the Gray Leopard, unlocked the Skill: Speak Devil Language, unlocked the Skill: Read Devil Language, unlocked the Skill: Devil Etiquette, unlocked the Skill: Fae Runic Language, unlocked the ability to learn Devil Magic Style: House Ose, and unlocked the ability to use Devil equipment, ride Devil mounts, consume Devil food and drink.

"Wow..." He can't help but murmur as he begins to go through his Character Menu, noting the new Skills and Reputation. "And I'm getting paid as well..." _Ok, I feel like I should be paying him now._ He mentally admits.

"You look like you want to drool, Advisor." Draven remarks with a touch of amusement and he slowly shakes his head, remarking, "So many things just got unlocked including Fae Runic Language and learning House Ose style of magic."

"Didn't you unlock that already?" Inquires the Devil Player. He shakes his head as he runs a hand through his hair. "No, then again, I've been kind of busy this pass month." He levels a look at Draven, who blinks before realizing that yea, they were both rather busy with other things then playing that tile game or getting around to actual lessons and practice.

"It seems that I can start on some of your books without you looking for translations into either common Order or Elf as I now have a brand new Skill to rank up that relates to reading Devil." He remarks while Draven is clearly thinking about something. Then the other is focus on something only he can see, which is likely his Character Menu, which he dimly recalls seeing once before and does his best to recall what kind of tabs the other Player has.

"Magic... Ah, there's the Mentor option." And suddenly, he is being asked if he would want to accept Gentleman Draven Ose as a Magical Mentor with the condition that he remains a Student until he's achieved the rank of Journeyman of House Ose Magic Style. Usual such Mentor relationships end the moment the Student achieve Apprentice, which is a step above Student, with Student being zero experience and Apprentice meaning that they barely understand the basics. It also boosts the learning curve of the one getting taught by a hundred and fifty percent but even so, it general takes at least two weeks to achieve the ranking of Apprentice.

Even now, he's still ranked as an Apprentice Poison Maker and it was the first time he'd entered into the Mentor and Student system. "Are you even a Master of House Ose Magic?" He asks curiously.

"It's more I need the practice of using the Skill then I need to rank it up like the Player Skill system. It's one of those use this spell this many times on this and your casting time becomes this, now use it on this for this many times, and etc." Draven explains and he blinks a bit. "So, you're pretty much an automatic Master at your House's magic style and the only thing that improves is minor things like casting time and, maybe duration?"

"There's also including Runic spell arrays to do more with a spell." Admits the Devil Player. "Like what happened with Ultimate Doom." He realizes and the Devil Player nods in agreement.

"Just what did that spell actually do?" He asks curiously. "It's not that different then your Quirk, honestly. It's original use is in causing the victim into a certain belief of them either the most holy of holy people or the greatest of kings. Generally with the holy person mind set, you get them to act as as though they are the most kind and forgiving person you can think of and with the royal, well, you saw how he was, far more full of himself then he generally is."

"So, basically we're both capable of brainwashing people." He finds himself kind of despairing at the thought he has access to a magic style that is not that different from his Quirk. "Only in game and I don't think you are fully aware of just what more you can do with your Quirk in the real world, White-Out. I mean, I'm kind of relieved you want to be a Hero in all honesty and your Quirk will be great with Villain negotiations."

It's those words, _will be_ , that has him stiffening and starting at Draven with wide eyes. Hitoshi swallows as he fights back the urge to start crying and he doesn't really know what he's actually feeling right now, after all, nobody ever really thought he could be a Hero. Never in his life had he thought someone would not only believe him fit to become a Hero with a Quirk like his but seemed to believe he's more then able to make that dream a reality.

"You..." Draven gives him a look of sympathy and compassion, reaching forward and giving his shoulder a gentle, comforting squeeze. "Nobody ever..." He trails off.

"Yea." The Devil Player admits gently and he does recall that Izuku's own dream of becoming a Hero. So yea, it's something they both have in common, it seems.

There's differences between them but at the same time, does it really matter if Draven possesses a Quirk in real life? In his mind, not really, after all, there's so few Players who have access to their Quirks in game and most of those who possess them are subtle and mental focus. A lot of people are going to wake from this game thinking twelve years have passed when only a year in real life had actually passed, so their not going to have the best control over their respective Quirks, never mind that some might wake to find Quirk suppressors on their person. A lot of people are going to need to re-familiar themselves with their Quirks on top of their old bodies, life, friends, work, etc.

"There's Heroes who work in other fields besides the street." He remarks in a weak voice which is when he realizes that yea, he's crying. "Never mind that there are Heroes who's Quirks don't always help with certain situations."

"And I'll be reviewing all of that once I get out." Draven admits. "After all, most of the time, it was more about trying to convince others and reassure myself that I could be a Hero, not how do I go about being a Hero." There's a slight squeeze before Draven withdraws his hand and arm.

He can relate, actually. "At least we have time to brainstorm some thoughts even if we don't have anyway to tell if we're on the right path." He admits and the Devil Player hums.

"There might be a few actual Heroes in the game." The other Player informs him, startling him, gawking at Draven, he's not sure if he believes that but, well, it was a popular game and, well, Heroes are still people, so...

"Well, that's going to be tough to ferret out whether one is or isn't." He muses after them both getting lost in their own respective thoughts and sighs, realizing how emotional drained he is. "I have a lot of things to try out and you have stuff to supervise or people to order around, so..."

He presses the accept concerning the learning from Draven and hurries out of the room. Still, Draven's endorsement of his chances of becoming a Hero remain within the forefront of his mind. He's got a few things to check on and then compose messages, different ones, to be sent to ErasingError and Night/s_Thorns about what happened with him employed by Draven as his External Advisor and about the emotional conversation he just had with Draven.

To be continued . . .


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

Shouta reflects on the latest venting feast as he waits for Hizashi, Nemuri, and Tensei. It's not that he doesn't understand the frustration of the Players about their situation, it's that there better things to do besides complaining and targeting fellow Players or cursing Heroes for failing to stop the game's launch. Which is likely why he's come to look forward to the reports from White-Out that are filled with a detailed information that have proven true, such as you can barter down prices, it's a matter of which merchants though but they have the beginnings of a list, and you can also stay at local inns for free by informing the Innkeepers that the Priesthood will foot the bill, which also covers food and having equipment mended.

Hidden options that were waiting for them to discover or for them to do some research into historical accounts, not that the current Order NPCs are of much help. In game explanation is that corruption has taken root while the actual reason likely had to do with making those trapped miserable and creating the right kind of atmosphere where everyone is looking for someone to blame. The promise that they'd only be trapped for a year, well, according to their in game calendars, it's been two years, going on three, and the average Player really doesn't want to hear the truth of the matter, that it's a matter of in game years verses real life year.

"You look grumpier then usual." Remarks Tensei or StringsJAM, a Satyr Adventurer, which was one of the two races that were currently only available for those who bought the Collector's Edition. He glances over at Tensei, giving the other a nod of acknowledgement. His fellow Pro Hero's choice of equipment and armor is rather unusual, given that he knows the kind of Hero attire the other uses in real life. Brightly colored cloth shirt plus vest and simple loincloth as cover. Then there's a guitar hanging from his back, then again, Tensei is going for the supposed 'classic' image of a bard, which in some old table top games usually mean a jack of all trades magic skills, a decent musician, and being the 'socialmance' of the party.

"Meeting earlier." He summaries and Tensei is quick to hide how pleased he didn't have to attend that so called 'meeting'. "It's a crying shame that I had to mess that." Tensei remarks in fake sympathy and he resists the urge to throw something at the Satyr, he almost misses the next arrival as Tensei.

"Spent the afternoon with your brother, Jammer?" Asks Nemuri and Tensei is a touch startled before giving a lazy wave towards the Elf Adventurer. "Night, looking beautiful as always." Replies Tensei, turning to look at her.

"As for Retro-kun is doing his best to perfect his flying ability." Answers Tensei, RetroInenium or Tenya, decided to play as a Dracoform Adventurer. "Where's the Pez?" Tensei glances about the clearing expectantly.

Dracoforms are one of the two special races only available for Collector's Edition buyers. The race come in two sub-types kinds but both appearing to be human sized and looking ones that sport scales all over their bodies with the differences come into play in their magic and racial features. One is aquatic, growing a sturdy tail along with grills that allow the sub-type to breath underwater indefinitely, and they get bonuses to Water base magic. The other sub-type of Dracoform are able to grow wings and a tail, allowing them the ability to fly, which is limited by a stamina bar, and like their aquatic siblings, and they get bonuses concerning Wind base magic. Not many bothered to buy the Collector's Edition, figuring that the two races would be released for purchase at a later date, so there's not a large number of Dracoforms or Satyrs among the Players.

It takes Shouta a few seconds to pull up his messages and finds that Hizashi is being held up in mediating a dispute between two Players, not details over what the dispute is centered around save that the two were both Laborers. While he isn't much for gambling, he feels it likely that it has to do with purchasing a needed resource for their respective crafts skills. He prefers to work with chemistry but the duration of said chemistry items within the game being what it is, he is forever trying to find the time to take a month off to enter into a Mentor relationship with White-Out to unlock the Skill: Fae Runic Language and see about purchasing Alchemy books from the Problem Devil, he's has far too many Problem Children to keep track of thus Midoriya is regarded as his Problem Devil.

He knows that both Hizarshi and Nemuri have had time to enter into a Mentor relationship with White-Out and with the Problem Devil in regards to learning Skills in Devil Etiquette, Spoken, written, and ability use Devil equipment. He's spent time with both learning those Skills in turn from the two of them at different points in time and have proven useful in engaging in conversing with that type of NPCs without it ending in violence and they've been able to actually hire Devil NPCs to be the middle man in acquiring resources that are limited within Order, by the leadership or by the needs out numbering their ability to supply it. They haven't purchased much beyond history books from Devil side of things, which were fairly cheap, even with them paying the middle man a hefty twenty percent of the price of said book, then purchasing Order books.

White-Out can visit but the Elf Player had never been well received among the Players given his Quirk. No matter how useful it was, Players were forever questioning their decisions made while partied up with said Elf Player, which is how he ended up adding the Elf Player to his Friend List, not himself much of a problem but he did generate problems. It's a mixture of relief, really, that White-Out is content to stay at Den of the Gray Leopard and of despair over how the Elf Player ended up at said fort to begin with. None of the Pro Heroes trapped within the game were happy to heard the news of how three Players 'sold' another Player for in game currency to an enemy agent, particularly given that said Player proved useful in regards to Ultimate Doom and their desire for wanting answers from the Villain Player.

If not for the message White-Out sent that same day of his capture, they wouldn't have known what became of the Elf Player. That luck was on their side in regards to the Problem Devil seizing an opportunity to keep the Elf Player from being taken under twenty-four hours of being captured or that the Problem Devil decided to try something risky in regards to White-Out, allowing the other Player to remain within the cell without shackles... It had taken a lot of convincing to sway the other Pro Heroes from launching a massive raid against the Problem Devil to rescue the valuable Quirk using Player but as White-Out continued to report back each day, the pressure subsided and other events shifted their focus.

Then they came close to losing the Elf Player to the insane Villain, only for the Problem Devil to be the one to safe guard White-Out from the plans of Ultimate Doom when the brainwashed Player talked the insane Player into using that... whatever it was on his first captive, one Lord_Murder|Exploder, a regrettable victim in the great scheme of things but the Human Player hadn't been missed all that much before getting thrown under the bus as it were. White-Out unlocked his collar during the fall out of whatever happened and Problem Devil didn't think to check White-Out over before returning to the fort and escorting the Elf Player back to his cell. White-Out messaged him, he did his best to organize a hasty thrown together rescue party and the rest, well, what's done is done and fortune smiles on them in regards to the issue of the Problem Devil, who continues to prove opportunities in regards to information, resources, and training.

Of course, they have limited the number of people who know of the situation in regards to Ultimate Doom's Boss 'Monsters' and of the fact that they have a by pass in regards to getting actual useful Skills and in game knowledge that isn't filtered by the Order's corrupt leadership. That's the in game explanation of the lack of support given to Adventurers and Laborers, that due to a large gap between the last time the Walking Legends and Wonder Makers roamed the Expanse and its sibling planes, the Order enjoyed a large period of peace and safety that, in time, caused certain level of relaxation among the Order races and saw the beginnings of the usual vices begin to settle within the higher ranks of the Order leadership structure. It is a very good reason behind their hardships when dealing with the Order's various institutions and how they have no problem taking advantage of Players, likely thinking that they should already 'know' how things work and if they don't, well, more profit for them.

"Dealing with a dispute." He reports as he reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose. It's clear he's tired, given how easily his mind wandered into memories and other thoughts. "It's not like we'll be discussing anything new anyway." Shouta remarks as his messages fade with inactivity from him.

"Alright, so, basically, keep Players from forming raids on your pet Devil and keep spreading the information about in game years being different then real life time frame?" Tensei asks. "Those are the two major points." He agrees.

Ignoring the word 'pet', after all, he's yet to come face to face with the Problem Devil since that first time. Nor has he had to 'clean' up after the Problem Devil or interact with him directly. Much like White-Out had been, it wasn't Midoriya who was the problem, it was how others regard him to be that was the problem.

"If any of the Pros ask after White-Out, assure them that he's fine and that he's still sending in reports regularly." Nemuri pipes in and he flashes her a look of thanks. "And if any of the actual Players inquire after him, suggest they message him if they have him on their Friend List, as it's likely that he's out Soloing on his own, outside of Order territory." Which is only located on the Expanse as lack of any kind of support on the other planes over the centuries of peace have seen them driven out of those planes, meaning that the Order doesn't know what's going on at all on the other planes nor have a way to access said planes at this point in time.

 _Might be able to gain access with help from the Problem Devil though._ It's hardly the first time he thought about it but there's always something more pressing to focus on. Yet it's not as pressing as his learning the Fae Runic Language as it'll open up new opportunities in creating magical items, be it enchanting weapons with special effect, enhancing armor with resistance towards a select kind of damage or elements or, maybe, causing a force shield to generate, and likely unlocking the ability to create potions and other minor yet beneficial creations.

"Then we are done here unless any of you have anything you wish to bring up?" He glances at the pair of Adventurers. Both shake their heads and thus, he gets to his feet with a sharp nod. "Good, I'm off to my camp site for a nap."

"Same time next week?" Asks Tensei and he gives a simple grunt which causes Nemuri to chuckle. Soon enough, Shouta is at his camp site and is sure to set up some simple traps before switching his attire to something to help him rest and then entering the tent, slipping into his sleeping bag.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"You know, I didn't think you'd actually take me serious about a camping trip." Remarks White-Out while they stand upon a cliff, watching a mating ball of sea serpents fight to mate with the large, bright blue with silver trim female, who's clearly fairly old given the darker shade of blue scales hinting at old injures that the sea serpent endured and healed from. The males seem to be younger then the female as most of their scale colors aren't shining very brightly as the female, plus their set of horns are short and are black in color, making most to be teenagers then adults as those tend to have longer and white horns to go with their bright scales.

"I was getting restless and I rather not risk Order forces finding us by camping on the Expanse." He informs his Advisor and friend. "Camping sounded like a great idea and then it was a matter of finding something... fitting for the summer vacation."

"Thus the beach..." The Elf Player remarks. "I don't recall how I ended up here given that I was certain that I was still in the kitchen when I was forcefully brought here." _To where ever here is._ There's a slight accusation there plus a heaping of disapproval.

"You signed that Summoning spell scroll last week." Draven gently reminds the other. "It had only the two uses? Didn't I mention that I wanted to use it to summon you somewhere special?"

White-Out eyes widen and the other looks up at the sky, likely noticing the slightly off color of the sun. "But I'm not able to use the Planar Gates to travel around because I'm a member of the Order!" Then it hits the other after a few seconds. "But that clearly didn't stop me from getting summoned to this plane." Clearly impressed with the clever work around of that issue, he's pleased that the work around even worked.

"And what exactly am I looking at?" The other gets around to asking as the mating ball of sea serpents slowly loops around, keeping to the same general area, within sight of the cliff that he hiked to and decided was a nice spot to summon White-Out, judging that the other should be awake and dressed by that point. He begins to scan about, hoping to see some actual grown examples of sea serpents then just the teens trying to court the female, who's far to experience to allow one of them to do the deed with her.

"Welcome to the plane Aqua Agglomeration. We are on what passes as the major continent of the plane called the Promontory Strand." He informs his friend with a smile and focuses on White-Out as he continues. "As for what we're watching, it's a mating ball of the largest breed of sea serpents, commonly called the Grand Rainbow Coil, as the breed is known for coming in any kind of color with the colors shining brighter with age."

"..." He sighs before continuing, "It's the best way to see them as they only come up to the surface and near any of the land masses to mate. They don't have a mating season either so sights like this can happen randomly."

"They are also not venomous." That seems to get White-Out to relax a touch. "So, unique sight of a species that's generally not seen outside of something like this?" He nods in confirmation and the Elf Player looks back at the gathered mating ball with a touch more interest now.

"Which one is the female?" Asks White-Out as he returns to scanning for an older male to show up. "The largest one that sports bright blue scales with traces of silver on the one side of the scales." He replies. "The males are all young, not sure if you can see the black horns clearly from this distance but the mature males have white ones and should be larger then these males here but not as big as the female."

"Ah, I think I see what you mean, none of them actually have black scales too." And he spies an incoming purple sporting what appears to be teal eyes. "And we have our grown male." He reports and is sure to point at said sea serpent.

"Oh, those horns are easier to see." Agrees his friend and they watch as the female seems to try to break away from the teenagers but they seem to curl in closer, suddenly pressing their bodies close together. Still, it doesn't deter the incoming male while it does have the effect of keeping the female captive.

It's a slow process and another grown male sporting pink scales arrives as the purple male begins to shove the smaller and younger males off of the female. Another two more arrive as the purple manages to make contact while the pink began to shove the teens off. Draven isn't sure when but the teenagers begin to swim away and then the two new comers, a yellow scale and a violet scale, do the same after they get near the female. It's not until the pink male swims off does it seem that the purple is the lucky male.

"They lay eggs or give birth?" White-Out wonders out loud and he takes a moment to think about it, trying to recall if he has an answer. "If they do lay eggs, they don't lay them on the beaches like some of the breeds of sea serpents and creatures." He reasons and turns to path he walked to get up to the cliff.

"So there are some that do? Makes sense if this plane is pretty much one big ocean or sea." The Elf Player muses as he begins to walk down the path, hearing White-Out following behind him.

"What are the natives like?" White-Out asks as they get within sight of the camp site that his Devils are setting up. He brought a dozen general staff and two dozen guards, then there's those who joined the trip for an actual vacation, which number which consists of ten of his general staff only they brought a singular person like a relative or someone they are courting, half a dozen of his crafts people with their families, and, of course, fifteen guards with their respective families. Those people will lend a hand here and there but that's more out of practicality then anything, after all, they didn't have to pay for the supplies nor did they have to worry about their safety.

"Kind of what you'd expect, if the race or race sub-type can breath underwater then you'll find said race's presence here. There's a handful of avian races here too but most ground base races aren't that prevalent here." He informs the Elf Player. "I'm sure you won't get any odd looks here, after all, you can't be a member of the Order, they have no interest in other planes outside of the Expanse after all."

"Oh yea, that's going to be pretty strange. Plus, being in the company of Devils pretty much cements that." His friend remarks and it takes him a bit to realize that White-Out isn't right behind him.

Glancing back, he finds the other Player staring at the encampment with a particular look upon his face. Raising a slight eyebrow, he judges what White-Out is focus on and then notices that it's on the kids playing. Tilting his head slightly, he tries to work out what the problem is, but comes up with a blank, even with Izuku's memories, he doesn't see a problem with kids... _Oh, it's one of those incidences._ He realizes.

It's easy for him to forget that this just a video game, that everything around him is just coded bits of zeros and ones with decent AIs. After all, unlike other Players, he's never really got the chance to 'play' in this world as he had the misfortune of getting subverted into a persona of a character that should have been it's own NPC with its own AI and living its own life without having a Player 'daydreaming' of being that character. His own interface with the world is also different then other Players, likely only eight others capable of relating to his situation... if they weren't also subverted into NPC personas and might be working out their suppressed anger viva being those personas.

Then again, from what he can tell, Draven was never going to be an overly emotional or wrathful individual. The other personas, well, some are clearly easier to see being enjoying violence for its own sake but besides Draven the Devil Boss 'Monster', the next seemingly even tempered Boss 'Monster' had been the Tengu Boss named Genshirou. And yet, even he clearly has a bone to pick with somebody or it could even be some people who Genshirou wasn't confident in facing just yet, so he decided to find another target of convinces to refine his skills upon and to gain a level of reputation, that target just so happens to be on the Expanse and it just so happens to be the Age of Living Legends and Wonder Makers.

"You're spacing out." Remarks White-Out and he blinks, finding the shorter Player about a foot before him, standing between him and the camp. Blinking he hums as he studies the Elf Player for a few seconds.

"Just considering the chances of there having been some kind of persona matching system for those who got subverted into Ultimate Doom's service." He reasons out loud and his friend looks startled before thoughtful. "After all, I wasn't one for grudge holding and as Draven before... I never really threw myself head long at the Order or you Heroes and Supports."

"And if there is such an award for being the only Player to not die in this game, I'm betting you'll have it in the bag." His friend states with a slight smirk and he snorts at the very thought. "After all, you've never seen this as a game."

He keeps from reacting to that remark, after all, hadn't he just been thinking that very same thing not just a few seconds ago? "Never got the chance to and I'm sure that the other eight are in the same boat in that regards." He muses. "In fact, they might have it worse as they whole heartily believe that the insane Elf is some kind of Demigod or a kicked out minor God of the Order's Pantheon, what with the way they keep being brought back to life." And that's not a mind set for those Quirkless Players to have when all this comes to an end.

His friend winces as that thought clearly crosses his mind. "Point." The Elf Player admits. "Although, you have to admit, their attacks have lessen since your... defection."

"More like they've been given a new set of orders and it wouldn't surprise me if they're investing in their forces in both training and in equipment." Draven muses. "I really should look into starting an actual information network to actively keep track of them and on the Villain."

"Think something like that could work?" White-Out asks and he shrugs slightly with a reply of, "Might, I mean, given that there is such a career called being a spy, so why not information broker?"

"Might prove to be expensive." Remarks his friend and he hums in agreement. "Likely but nothing saying I can't look into finding who's who among that kind of set up and the kind of coin is usually spent for certain services." He reasons, that would state his curiosity over the possibility at least.

They continue down into the camp and a few of his Devils greet White-Out by his shorten Title of Advisor. It's interesting, watching how his underlings and guards interact with his friend and finds it rather amusing at times as the Elf Player sometimes gets tongue tie when complimented by the women among his forces, showing that yes, his friend is a teenager even though his Avatar looks to be eighteen years of age and is an Elf. It's clear a few of those women find it delightful when White-Out stammers or gets flustered, regardless of him being an Elf but are mindful that White-Out out ranks them, so they settle for some light teasing on the rare occasion plus a side of light flirting.

None of the men among his forces care, knowing that in the end, White-Out is an Elf and it's the women who decided to do some light teasing with a touch of flirting. It's clear that White-Out isn't going to abuse his authority concerning the minor embarrassing reactions that said teasing provokes, the Elf Player isn't that petty and it seems that they note that White-Out knows that the women aren't being serious with their teasing or flirting. His friend knows that this is all a game and thus, knows that getting involved with a NPC isn't going to be a lasting relationship, that if he grows too attached that it'll only cause emotional hurt on his end.

 _Likely why, in the end, he was so relieved when I turned out to be a fellow Player._ Draven muses upon once more. _Hard to say if this is a case of Stockholm syndrome, given that he thought I was just another NPC and a Boss 'Monster'._ He reasons with himself, it's hardly the first time he's pondered this kind of thing, then again, it's hard to really fit what Stockholm syndrome is in regards to this game and if it really encompasses what's been going on among Players.

"Spacing out again." Remarks his External Advisor and friend. "At least I'm not muttering." He counters without much thought, his mind still circling the problem concerning the Players and how this game is shaping their experiences.

"Wait, what? Since when have you ever mumbled?" White-Out asks and he blinks as he realizes that he actually admitted that, as Izuku, he'd picked up the habit of muttering his thoughts out loud for all to hear. "Back in the real world... I think the right way to explain it is, no mouth filter between my thoughts and my mouth, particularly when I'm stressed."

 _It use to annoy Kacchan something fierce._ He recalls as he does his best to not frown or look guilty, after all, he's pretty sure that Lord_Murder|Exploder is his old childhood friend and bully. "Huh, guess there's still a lot of things to learn about you." Remarks White-Out and he hums, he knows why he is still embarrassed about that foible of murmuring his thoughts, not that he does that any more. If not for the merger, it's more then likely that it would have taken years to learn to keep that regrettable habit of his to come to an end. After all, what's the point of forming strategies if your always muttering your thought process out loud for people to listen to and thus allowing them to form counter plans?

"Still figuring out what's what in regards to Izuku and Draven." He admits as they come to sit down with mugs of warm cider at one of the tables that got set up. "I'm not looking forward to it happening again when I look in the mirror and see Izuku's face reflecting back."

"Happening... Why would you think it'll..." White-Out is clearly startled by his matter of fact remark and he glances towards the Elf Player.

"Why wouldn't it? I think more like Draven because that's who I see staring back at me when I look at my reflection or when I realize how much taller I am compared to my surroundings." He explains. "In this world, everything favors Draven's as the one who is needed, in some ways, Izuku is just in here and while I have access to his knowledge and memories, I haven't been able to feel his emotions in regards to those memories or the intense emotions when it comes to what drives him or the way he feels when it comes to what he's afraid of."

"There's an emotional barrier, it was there back when Izuku entered into the world and it's still there. I know my emotions as Draven and given what I can access when it comes to Izuku's memories, I find it hard to understand how certain events lead to such... defensive manners." He admits with a sigh. "Drives are fueled with emotion and I'm just not getting that connection." Yes, there had a lot of emotions running through him back when the merging began but those strong emotions have long since retreated as something seem to snap back into place.

"Did you want to..." White-Out trails off and he shakes his head in a negative. "Not really interested in becoming an emotional mess again." He admits.

"So, reflection on those memories without the emotional burden that Izuku has invested in them." His friend muses, eyes focus on him with a look of accusation. "Seems kind of like a cheat." He's pretty sure that Night/s_Thorns would agree but, well, he can't afford to be emotional vulnerable right now, not when Ultimate Doom hasn't retaliated about his defection or seemed to have done anything in regards to the Players.

"I've been building up the fort's defenses for a reason and done my best to increase the training of my guards." He admits after taking a sip, savoring the taste of the liquid in his mouth before swallowing. "He's been too quiet, White-Out, far too quiet." _Something's getting planned, something big._

"That's worrying." Admits White-Out. "He also knows I'm still with you too."

Their conversation kind of dies after that, after all, there's not much more to speak of that won't cause worry among his workers and hired guards. For all that the both of them know, this might be their last chance to relax in a while. Draven looks up at the sky, he's done his best to be ready for the worst but then, it's more then likely that Ultimate Doom will provide that what he thinks of as the worst isn't as bad as it truly will be.

Not that he hasn't prepared for that, after all, he's not a normal Player and thus there's no auto system in place for him to be revived. Draven recalls what he thoughts concerning death, back when the merging began back then. He recalls both his acceptance of it and his fear of the idea of it back then. Now though, he knows that if his death is permanent as he imagines it to be, he'll be leaving White-Out alone, grief filled, and, well, holding the bag as it were.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

As he lays bleeding out from his injuries from one transformed Lord_Murder|Exploder, he dimly hears his name. The hulking brute of a chimera had teleported away along with Ultimate Doom upon his third refusal to reenter into the insane Elf's service, having been informed that if he doesn't then it'll be the end of him, as in, even his real body will die. It's, surprise surprise, due to how he exists in the game, he doesn't have a Gods' Marking upon either of his wrists, which means that all of the Quirkless Players are dependent on Ultimate Doom's good will and that if the brainwashing hadn't taken hold, it would have served as a way to get them to fall into line with the wishes of the insane Villain.

There's a count down before his eyes that he can't help but focus on while he feels someone pressing down on the gaping hole that's pulled a few of his ribs out. "Whi..." Draven tries to say and a familiar feeling settles on his mind. "Live!"

 _Live?_ His mind can't help but focus on that simple order. _How?_ But his mind is whirling around with thoughts and he's also reaching for his not yet empty reserves of magic. Concepts and ideas are now racing throughout his mind as he begins to pick through his knowledge of magic in order to fulfill the command given. Many are discarded but others come under review and then mentally expanded upon, doing his best to envision the how it would work.

Some of those plans find themselves being compared with one another, then getting modified so they could fit, layers of mental magic arrays are coming together with new ones being crafted to help fit between the gaps, helping to filter or buffer where it's needed. It's trying work but the command to live drives him on and on. It's now becoming a question of will he have enough reserves to do so? And it's becoming a pressing issue as the mental array is getting completed.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

Hitoshi supposes that it's something Ultimate Doom has been working on for the past, well now, two years, since he managed to help Draven to break free of the mental conditioning that had the Devil Player falling in line with the Villain's in game goals by ordering the merging of the NPC persona and the background sleeping Izuku. It's pretty clear, looking back, that something had been going on and the little information Draven had been able to pay for suggests that Ultimate Doom had been more focus on certain books and acquiring rare material, given what he's seen of Lord_Murder|Exploder. It's clear that Ultimate Doom did finally transform that Player into a hulking monstrosity and it's also clear that said Player clearly had a grudge against Draven, no big surprise there, really.

It's a mixed blessing, really, to see that Draven's plans to save his underlings proved to have worked, there's no dead guard Devils to be found, just their armor, weapons, and whatever it was they had been carrying on their person. The crafts people and general staff had, it seemed, made it to the Minor Planes Gate that had been built for such an evacuation, with them taking the collection of Summoning spell scrolls with them, which were set to auto Summon the guards if their health got below a set point, just they themselves and what's on their person, it also means that they'd get medical attention right away without the need to get them naked. _Too bad that Ultimate Doom did something to keep Draven from getting Summoned away by the same method._

He'd down a Potion of Invisibility after switching out his cloths for ones that were meant to help him move silently. Hitoshi did his best to find Draven, only getting glimpses of a fight between the Devil Player and the monstrosity that sported the name Lord_Murder|Exploder. He'd manage to get within hearing range as Ultimate Doom then gives his friend the option of pledging to reenter into the Villain's service and get revived or hold fast and die, in both the game and in real life. He froze, his emotions whirling about the fact that if his friend doesn't swear to follow the insane Villain that he'd die for real but on the other hand, it means that Draven would likely suffer humiliation on top of being a willing accomplice in torturing the Players from then on. _But he'd be alive..._

And yet, Draven denied the offer, stating, "I rather die here today then live with the guilt and burden with the memories of what follows upon accepting that offer of yours." Then the other states, "Death is the fate of all those that live, it's really just a matter of how we arrive there that defines how we are remembered by those who's paths intersect our own."

With a glare from the Villain and a snarl from the transformed Player, a killing blow to the ribs is done and a minute later, upon satisfied at the state of Draven's health bar, the two teleport away. It takes him seconds to recover enough to move, he cries out Draven's name as he gets closer. He tries, oh how he tries, to get Draven to respond to him but there's a slight wheeze, it's enough and his Quirk takes hold, he gives a single command with tears in his eyes, already trailing down his face. "Live!"

Seconds tick by and finally, something happens, a gray flame surges from the open wounds and the heat causes his Avatar to pull back. Within a minute, it vanishes and what's laying on the ground before him is a sleeping but healthy leopard sporting Draven's gray coat plus spots. Hitoshi reaches forward and moves to check for the previous gaping chest wound only to find nothing. He sighs and sits back, his eyes flicker up and there's a slight change to Draven's name, as in the name is sporting gray text instead of the previous default color.

"A gray leopard... Figures." He murmurs and he moves to shift Draven from being on his back to his side. Still, he thanks any powers that are listening that his friend is alive, at least.

Moving to sit next to his transformed friend's head, he gently pets the head for a bit before he addresses his various notifications, which include him now being Draven's stand in due to the Devil Player being unable to fulfill his position at this point in time and now he's getting a hefty amount of unlocking of two tabs and a vast array of features for said tabs. Yes, the two tabs are temporary and that once Draven has regained his rightful body, they'll disappear but for now, it's like he's now playing a city builder on top of a MMORPG. One tab lists all the Devils that are on Draven's pay roll and the other centers around not just the fort but that quarry out post that's still untouched and functional.

There's new temporary Skills as well and, well, he's just going to have to message ErasingError, plus head in that direction once he's gotten the Devils to begin taking stock of the fort's condition and get them to start making plans for rebuilding it. Checking his Inventory it turns out that he's got access to all of Draven's Inventory as well, only it's called Pocket Dimension, but it's got the funds to pay the work force and guards in advance for him leaving with Draven to visit ErasingError in person as he's pretty sure the older Player will want to fully abuse this temporary option of his. Nothing among his notifications mentions how long his friend's transformation is going to be but then, compared to him almost dying and having him living for a time in the form of a leopard, he really shouldn't complain about how his friend is alive, only that he is and, hopefully, will stay that way.

 _Now, how do I start this report?_ Hitoshi wonders as he stares at the message waiting before him with a keyboard floating by his dominate hand. He continues to stroke Draven's head with his other hand as he tries to think of a way to break the news concerning the fact that, if Ultimate Doom wishes it, the Quirkless, brainwashed Players can die both in here and in real life. _But I can not mention it, how else can I explain why Draven turned into a leopard?_

"Wish you'd wake." He remarks towards the sleeping transformed Devil. "If only to be sure your you."

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"I'm not sure if I should laugh or scold you." He informs his friend, who didn't leap successfully over this pond of water that they are camping by. It's not deep but his reaction of tensing up and hissing loudly facing said pond once out of it is bemusing.

 _'Hopefully neither.'_ Mentally remarks the Devil turned leopard. _'I'm still getting the hang of this being on four legs thing.'_

"Point." Hitoshi admits as Draven gives himself a shake before moving away from the pond. It's been about four days since the whole Siege of Den of the Gray Leopard, soon to be five days. As for the timeline that he's sure happened, it began with it taking a full day for Draven to wake, in that time, he did set the returning slow trickle of crafts people, guards, and general staff the task of assessing the damages, clean up, and taking stock of what's needed to rebuild and repair the fort. The second day had to do with going over various expense reports and handing out advance pay, explain that he's heading else where for the next little while in hopes that Ultimate Doom will follow his trail then to return here and make sure that the fort is still empty. The NPCs agree with that logic and once he's got preparations ready and a mount that wasn't a Strider, those are expensive, rather rare among Players, and. thus. would only draw unwanted attention, they left.

Surprisingly, none of the Devils seem overly shocked about Draven having transformed into a leopard, it seems that the sentiment shared seemed to be along, 'well, he already looked like one' and 'kind of young to unlock that kind of magic, isn't he?' So, it seems that this transformation isn't all that strange when it comes to Devils born of House Ose and thus, it means his friend is going to be fine. Hitoshi is debating whether he should send some kind of message to his friend's in game parents about this transformation but, he doesn't know their name nor does it seem that they'd care, given the conversations he's had about the seemingly care free attitude concerning teenage Noble Devils and lack of over all interest from their respective House.

The whole mental connection thing is odd but at least he doesn't have to deal with explaining a talking leopard on top of the coloration once they've entered into Order territory. The text above Draven is still the same as before, it hadn't gone back to its default color. His friend can access his Character Menu but there's a number of features and Skills he's unable to use do to his current body but he also gained new Skills and features for his current body, not that Draven is good with them as of yet, but he'll improve with practice.

His mount isn't pleased as the leopard comes near the fire but the former wild horse can't act on its flight instinct due to the rope hobbling its front legs. His friend merely flickers an ear towards the horse but makes no move towards it. "Hungry yet?" He asks his friend out loud, yes, they can hold a mental conversation but it's an unusual feeling, not that dissimilar to knowing when his Quirk has a hold on someone.

 _'I could snack on a bit of meat but, it's not that pressing.'_ The other Player muses thoughtfully while laying about five feet from the fire, upon the ground. _'Might try my luck at hunting tomorrow, something smaller then normal deer but larger then a rabbit.'_

"Well, we are due to encounter some beast type monsters." The general area around both the Den of the Gray Leopard and the Quarry Outpost tend to be patrolled by Draven's guards, so any monster, be it beast or other are either driven off or killed, which means their bodies are looted before being destroyed. They are just pass that boundary and thus, they should be encountering something soon, which, well, is going to be rather interesting as it's been two years since he's had to worry about getting mobbed by monsters or encountering a special monster.

Not that he isn't well armed these days, it's more that it's been a pretty long time since he's had to worry about random monster encounters. Glancing towards his friend, he's reminded that it's unlikely Draven has ever experienced random monster encounters, well, on his own. _It's going to be an interesting time, seeing how well he defenses himself in his current shape, isn't it?_ He muses ruefully to himself.

After a few seconds, he scans the forest and listens to the various calls. The sun is almost set and he's already eaten, so, he gets up and pulls out his sleeping bag from his Inventory. Once he's put it down, he pulls out a book and continues reading from his bookmark, trusting that Draven is alert to danger, after all, it would be good practice for the Devil turned leopard.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

Finding ErasingError thankfully didn't take long given that the older Player knew that they were arriving at the largest Order settlement that's closest to Den of the Gray Leopard. The Dwarf Player's eyes flicker about his person before homing in on Draven, who's sitting to his left, it seems that none can actually see the Devil turned leopard's name. He can't make out much in regards to ErasingError's mood but it's clear that there's a slight up turn of lips, which could mean that the other finds this whole thing very amusing or perhaps it's how fitting a transformation his friend undergone.

A nod and the Laborer Player turns, they follow behind him. He does his best to keep track of following the Dwarf but, well, it's been so long since he's visited a place frequented by Players. Oh, it had been an interesting and exciting to visit Aqua Agglomeration, particularly getting the chance to speak with the Elves living there and purchasing books concerning the Rune sets the local Elves make use of and recipe books ranging from old cooking to ancient equipment designs that the Elves once favored back when the Order had a presence on the plane. He's pretty sure his fellow Elf Player, Night/s_Thorns, will be interested in them for both historic value and to find something within that will suit her tastes. If she wants to share the content of the books, well, that's fine as he already copied out what he wanted from those recipe books.

The people, both NPCs and a scattering of Players, tend to focus more on Draven that's walking slightly before him but keep to his left then on him, but that's likely due to the coloration and eyes. Leopards in the game can be found on a minor continent and their coloration tends more towards black then the usual yellow with brown and black spots. In someways, Draven's coloration kind of marks him as a likely rare or even a legendary beast monster spawn and thus it's likely that Players will want to know where he found him along with the kind of Quests involved. _And then they'll want to know how I Tamed him..._

Still, for the moment, he savors the envy that doesn't revolve around the fact that he still has a Quirk. _Actually, they might think that's how I Tamed him in the first place._ Hitoshi muses to himself as they finally arrive at the Town Hall of the settlement and it's clear that they'll be using a private room for their meeting.

 _'I think you'd best enter first, otherwise I'll only hog the spotlight.'_ Remarks Draven as the Devil turn leopard moves to the left of the door, gemstone purple eyes meet his eyes. He hums thoughtfully, taking a moment to study his friend and remarks in turn, "Well, can't blame them, you are a magnificent specimen."

 _'Flatter.'_ His friend sends, he picks up on the undertone of both embarrassment and satisfaction concerning his statement. "Just telling it as it is." He teases and ErasingError raises an eyebrow but otherwise doesn't react much.

"Sorry." It's just been the two of them for the pass few days and he's done his best to act the same around Draven. It's kind of hard to suppress the urge to reach out and touch his friend in his current form of a big cat, after all, he's not really broached the topic of seeing if Draven wanted that kind of contact, for all that his friend is a fairly decent person, he's got a Devil's pride in there along with having been raised Japanese as well. Invading the other's personal space without consent could cause any sorts of problems.

"He does look magnificent, particularly with those eyes of his." And he's pretty sure that both Draven and himself are staring at the Dwarf Player. Before either of them could recover, ErasingError opens the door and within the room is two familiar faces plus a pair of unknowns.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

Entering the room, he notices that Tensei brought his brother with him, then again, it's likely due to a suggestion of Nemuri's. Shouta can still feel the pair of eyes upon his back from both the Problem Devil and White-Out, he does his best to suppress a smile at their reaction to his compliant. If he had not been informed by the Elf Player, he wouldn't know what to make of the seemingly Tamed leopard as there's no name hovering over the transformed Devil.

"They have arrived safely." He announces once he's a few feet from the door. White-Out enters a second later and he turns to watch as the gray leopard slinks into the room a few seconds later, the leopard then turns and closes the door before glancing about first at him before studying the others.

"What?! How?! Error, you don't mention..." His oldest friend gestures upon standing up on the chair, waving a hand at the transformed Devil.

"Oh? I recall mentioning that we're going to meet White-Out and the Gray Leopard that owns the Den of the Gray Leopard." He muses and it's clear that Nemuri along with Tensei recover from their shock to begin chuckling as they realize that it hadn't been code phrase at all.

"I don't understand, are we not suppose to be expecting the leopard?" RetroInenium, Tenya, asks, as the silver scaled Dracoform glances between them and Draven. "I think ErasingError-san choice not to mention the bit concerning said Player being turned into a leopard." Responds White-Out in a diplomatic tone.

It's a subtle reminder that Draven is a fellow Player. _And one who almost died._ His cheer evaporates as he feels so old and tired.

He sets that train of thought aside as White-Out is asked to explain how their Problem Devil ended up transformed. Shouta knew of summary as he sits down upon a chair, glancing towards Tensei, who's given his younger brother a minor look, which causes the teenager to settle down and to listen with out interrupting the report. He feels both Hizashi and Nemuri giving him looks as White-Out speaks about the assault on Den of the Gray Leopard by Ultimate Doom and the transformed Lord_Murder|Exploder, who's the one to deal the killing blow upon the now transformed Devil Player.

Yes, being reminded that Ultimate Doom has hostages isn't a pleasant thought nor the fact that Draven spurred returning to the Villain's side within the game, even with the very real threat of death looming. It's cause for concern whether or not Izuku had suicidal tendencies, never mind trying to factor in the crafted persona that had been dominate while said teen had been 'sleeping' and how it'll forever influence the teen, even once the game comes to an end. He'll need to speak with Nemuri about how stable she thinks the Problem Devil is, though, he does admit that with that kind of conviction to stick to his 'guns', no matter how foolish, the kid is gutsy and clearly has more conviction then most have as a young teenager, which he can respect, even though he finds it to be a foolish decision as he rather the kid be alive then dead, causing his parents to grieve over him without knowing why their son died while none of the others had.

"Kid, you could have died! You should have just accepted the offer! What would your parents do if you had actually died?!" Hizashi snaps, glaring at the Problem Devil, who's ears flatten and the body clearly tenses up.

"He says that it might have keep him alive, for a time, but the insane Elf wouldn't have forgiven or forgotten the betrayal, never mind the revealing of a kink in his armor when it comes to what can affect him." White-Out speaks in the Problem Devil's place. "Well, that's... He would like it pointed out that it's more then likely that he'd spend the rest of the time being tortured and likely killed, then revived only to repeat the cycle until the insane Elf got bored or when it serves the purpose of setting an example before the other Boss Monsters that, yes, they are fully reliant upon his good will when it comes to being revived."

 _All good and valid points._ He admits sourly. After all, this Villain does seem to be that type along with the abuse that the Villain would allow to happen from the other Boss 'Monsters' and the ill-tempered Lord_Murder|Exploder.

"It would have been a far cleaner death then what awaited him if he'd accepted that offer." White-Out is clearly not happy with that thought. The Problem Devil's pose relaxes slightly but it's clear that he's still tense and the tail tip twitches left to right and back again while staring at each of them.

"I don't understand... Why haven't we been told about Ultimate Doom having Players serving him?!" Tenya shouts upon standing.

"They've been brainwashed into serving him, Reto-Kun. Other then Gentleman Draven Ose, the others are still under the effects of said brainwashing and fully believe themselves to be said persona." Tensei says after getting up and placing a comforting hand on his younger brother's left shoulder. "And even then, they didn't break it, they just... Had the persona and the sleeping Player merge."

"We hadn't gotten much of a chance to try breaking it before the Villain teleported in and started attacking us." Hizashi explains from sitting to Tenya's right. "We gambled and it just so happens that Draven wanted out from serving the guy and when given the chance, did end up doing something that caused him to leave without anyone dying."

"And now, we know that they are his hostages along with servants and victims." Tensei continues. "And given the current attitude when it comes to those eight plus the Villain..."

"Having every Player know this, in the end, won't really change anything as those Players aren't able to alter their situation let alone are aware that there's a situation in the first place." Nemuri states. "There's plenty of bad blood between the Players and those eight other Players, there's very few who'd really consider their situation all that seriously given that death for the typical Player barely has any lasting effects and they'd likely figure that we're lying, after all, they keep coming back again and again."

"But..." Tenya glances about the room and White-Out remarks, "I spent weeks as Draven's prisoner and in that time, I just thought he was a custom NPC AI."

"The hints have always been there, there's no Quests generated when it comes to them nor are there any System Announcements when they are killed like the other kind of Bosses." The likely teen Player remarks with a weary smile as he continues. "There's none of the usual options for dealing with the body like there is for those who are of certain races. In fact, their bodies leave behind maybe a weapon and a piece of armor or straight out money, which isn't that dissimilar to what happens when a Player has been killed by another Player outside of a Duel."

Tenya opens and closes his mouth, the various points that the Elf Player brought up are all valid and had been remarked upon but dismissed many times over, even by those Pro Heroes within the game. Then again, there's always something else to worry about and more pressing concerns. Tenya bows his head and moves to sit down, Tensei moves to rub his younger brother's back, it's clear that the other is upset over what's been said.

"So, why come seek us out in person?" He finally pipes in as he notices the inward focus of White-Out's eyes. It's likely that what mental connection is between the Problem Devil and one of his Problem Children is two way.

"Eh? Oh, ah, I inherited control over Den of the Gray Leopard, which granted me two new tabs along with various abilities, features, and Skills. I figured that you'd want to take a look at it along with figuring out how to use it while I still have access to it." The Adventurer explains and, he'd forgotten that bit, focusing more on the danger those Quirkless Players are in, after all, that issue is a touch more pressing, in his mind, then some new, in game options.

It's clear that his friends are grateful for the distraction and is allowed Tensei to slip away with Tenya, the brothers clearly need some private time to sort out things between them, namely the secrets that are being kept from the general population of Players and from a number of fellow trapped Pro Heroes. He's not sure when the Problem Devil ended up to his right side but it's clear that the transformed Devil Player has picked up on his current level of fatigue, he feels so drained and he hates how many innocent people are suffering from this single situation that seems to only come to an end once the timer reaches zero.

To be continued . . .


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

He muses about how long number of weeks since they've arrived at this Order settlement, which is going to be seven soon, and of the various plans the clearly Pro Heroes, for it's clear to him that they had to be Pro Heroes in real life, came up with. It hardly bothers him overly as an Alliance between the now Company of Wonderment, _they will likely change the name later_ , and Gentleman Draven Ose of the Den of the Gray Leopard gets negotiated and then signed. Guilds are a thing Order register and Companies are the non-Order equivalent, funny thing, there's no law forbidding a member of a Guild from not being a member of a Company, it's just, generally isn't expected to ever happen.

White-Out is also a member of this new Company and is a member of Non-Order Relations, which doesn't stop the Elf from still keeping his employment as his External Advisor. Head of the Company is Night/s_Thorns with ErasingError being second in command when it comes to leadership as it won't conflict with his role as Head of their Guild. StringsJAM is given the role of Head of Non-Order Relations with RetroInenium being his second in command. Pezntation gets his, apparently, same post from his Guild, that of Head of Player Relations.

Of course there's been other meetings, more on focusing on who to approach about joining the Company along with arranging for White-Out to do some Mentoring. He's gone with his friend to said teaching sessions and did his best to just observe how his friend handles himself with it comes to teaching others that are out of the loop as it were. The lessons were on Fae Runic Language, speaking/reading/writing Devil, and Devil Etiquette as the Company will be dealing with Devil NPCs in the coming future, being aligned with a member of House Ose, it's a given that they'll have deal with NPCs of that race.

In time, the Company will learn to stand on its own feet without needing to make use of their Alliance connection and he predicts that they'll flourish, well, at least in regards of crafting ability. Supports... Laborers are known for very good reason as Wonder Makers for a damn good reason and one of the reasons why raids on Order happen. With the Skill: Fae Runic Language among that group of Players, there's going to be massive industry getting off the ground and given how bitter the Players are towards the Order... Well, there's a fresh new market now open but it's clear that with the Company planning to play buffer, what filters out into that new market won't be overly dangerous, after all, none of them want said things to be used against them due to shortsightedness of some Players looking for quick coin.

 _That kind of thinking is how I ended up with White-Out in my possession._ Draven muses as he watches as his friend is being pulled into the large workshop to another by a Human Support... Laborer with the name X-Rei floating overhead. The Human Player sports bright pink hair that's kept in a short, spiky style with bright crimson eyes with an Avatar that appears to be in her early teens, given how she reacts and manners, it wouldn't be hard to believe that her Avatar reflects her actual age, unlike the Avatar he made and likely White-Out's own.

X-Rei clearly is energetic and seems to always be working on something, she clearly jumped at the invitation to join the Company the moment the offer of learning the Fae Runic Language was mentioned, likely not even realizing the other Skills that would be taught and why. The state of this workshop, which apparently is a shared renting space, shows clearly that the Human Player has more then a few half finish crafting projects upon various counter tops or neatly lined up on desks with books next to them and the reason for the... 'kidnapping' of his friend and Elf Adventurer has to do with her expecting him to insight on said projects. Having become rather bored in the six weeks they've been here, he's more then interested in hearing her out and 'using' his friend as his mouth piece until someone comes by looking for the Elf Player.

It takes him a few minutes to find a spot that he can settle down upon that gives him a good view of what's on the tables. Getting up to said spot takes him a few seconds of remembering that he has claws as he gingerly moves to get up to said spot that's mostly just a bunch of crates plus some random items on top. Sitting there, he curls his tail about his paws and focuses on paying attention to the current conversation along with what's on the current table that's next to the work station.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

They finally leave X-Rei to her notes and projects after about forty minutes. Throughout that time, he'd been merely his friend's voice and while the topic had circled around magic, it's center point had more been on what is more then likely a magical reaction table concerning what works best with this and theories as to why. He'll likely look the topic in regards with acids and poisons, to see what kind of options are there for that kind of thing.

They are heading kind of out towards the surrounding woods when a shimmering spectral seems to slink out of rather large tree's shadow. It's shape is feline and it's outline is a sinister dark red glow with neon orange glowing dots that serve as eyes. In its mouth is a Scroll Case that is red in color sporting a feline head done in glossy black.

 _'Oh boy...'_ There's worry in Draven's mental voice as they all seem to pause. Then, his friend approaches the spectral messenger and once the transformed Devil touches the Scroll Case, the spectral feline seems to warp wisp away while the Scroll Case breaks and shatters, the shattered bits of the case already begin to catch on fire which in turn cause said burning shards into transform into flacks of ash then into nothingness in the span of less then a minute.

It's rather impressive bit of enchantment as its clearly meant to leave an impression on those watching. It seems to needless addition and yet, it's something he'd likely remember about this particular message. Hitoshi has seen spectral messengers before, although they were generally in the form of flying beasts and never were larger then a hawk. Often times, the message they were carrying was within the body as well, which means that this is important news.

 _'I need to leave tonight, heading for the nearest Planar Gate, that's in...'_ His friend's thoughts seem to cut off but he's pretty sure that Draven is mentally planning his trip to Bison's Stampede, he's pretty sure that's where the nearest Planar Gate is and it's also kind of those hobo ghettos what with it being made up of tents and other such portable dwellings, although the larger dwelling types are suppose to be used for business instead of personal use. It's population is never stable as people will pack up and leave while others will arrive and set up their tent, becoming a resident for a time.

He's never been and given it's a prairie terrain, it's likely very windy and flat, thus not landscape that's interesting to be surrounded by as there's likely little in the way of cover. Given the name, one would likely expect a large influx of Minotaurs living there when it's actually named for the largest and generally toughest beast type monster to inhabit the prairies, Blazing Bison, which is as big as a draft bred horse and are surprising agile. It's their pelts that are often the reason why anyone would want to tangle with a herd of them as the pelts coloring that's generally along the lines of a fire colors with those sporting the notable bright blue or white fetching the most.

Getting a look at the scroll that's pinned under his friend's right paw, he stiffens at the name of the sender, who is one President Lapis of the Pillar House of Ose. He's not able to read everything, given that the other Player's head is blocking his view and also the fact that he's not physically touch said message. _It's also not for me, is it?_ He muses to himself as he glances side ways at his friend, the only seemingly moving part of him is the way the ribs expand and shrink along with the way the tip of the tail flickers about.

"Are you sure they won't just kill you? I mean, you're not able to commune verbally." He remarks and from the reaction, it's clear that his friend clearly forgot he was even presence.

As Draven does his best to relax his body and shifts how he holds himself in a non-defensive way, he resists the urge to chuckle at how feline the Devil Player had just reacted. There's likely a bit of a grin but it seems that the transformed Devil is distracted by whatever the message had been in regards to. "You totally forgot I was here." He can't help but remark.

 _'Yea... Anyway, I have to get going as it's going to take me a fair bit to sneak around Order territory in order to leave it. I can't miss this meeting, it's House business.' Private along with Devil focus._ He realizes.

"Let me send a message to ErasingError and Night/s_Thorns." He says as he brings up the option. "While this is unexpected, they might be interested in sending someone with us to Bison's Stampede, if only to see if there's a Quest line that will unlock the use of the Planar Gate there for the Company." He remarks as he types out the message.

It's not long before there's a reply. He accepts the Party Invite from StringsJAM. About twenty minutes of waiting sees RetroInenium flying over the older Player, who's arriving with the horse he rode in on and who is riding upon a War Elk, it's a rare mount for Players as it's one of those bred by Elves and cost a lot of money, which means that it might be a mount recovered from a raid beyond Order territory, likely from Orc Raiders or Hobgoblin ones.

He climbs up onto the horse upon claiming the reins from StringsJAM, who's reassuring RetroInenium that everything is going to be fine. It's kind of clear that there's a sibling relationship going on between the two, given what their respective races are, it isn't that surprising. There's not many who spent the extra money to pick up the Collector's Edition for its two extra races after all along with the limited edition items like map of the Expanse and Digital Soundtrack.

 _Grass always seems greener from the other side of the divide._ Is a saying that's found within the game and it's pretty much has the same meaning as the one spoken of outside of the game, save for a change in certain words. The pair of brothers finally finish their good byes and with Draven taking point, they follow behind, after all, his friend has visited the Planar Gate before, it's doubtful anyone among the Players have ever gotten the chance to visit the place.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

Something about being so far from not just the fort that Draven built but also from Order territory that has him on edge. Both StringsJAM and himself are being sure to wear Devil equipment, his own clearly sports which Pillar House his 'master' is a member of. It's kind of amusing, seeing the Satyr Adventure wearing the top half of a Devil's leather uniform armor, it's just something about how the bottom half just doesn't seem to make it work along with having the older Player, and StringsJAM is clearly older then Draven and himself, keep his usual equipment in his Inventory.

Throughout the week long journey, StringsJAM asked a lot of questions about the prairie terrain along with what kind of welcome they could expect. Just this afternoon, they did get their first sight of the Blazing Bison, a herd of fifteen individuals and yea, Hitoshi has to admit that those pelts are eye catching but he can also guess how much meat they'd be able to get from just one of those beasts. It also makes his respect for the prairie wolf monster variant go up along as explain just why they had trouble killing those same wolf monsters.

Not that they only encountered just the wolf monsters but also beast monsters that were of the species of deer, beaver, ferret, fox, coyote, snakes, ground squirrel, rabbit, owl, hawk, falcon, eagle, crows, ravens, and, finally, large bugs. The bugs one really has to watch out for are ticks, a bred of fly, and mosquitoes, all three of which are blood suckers and are capable of infecting their victims with diseases. Then there's the magical bred of beast monster called Dancing Pronghorn, it's likely a bred of magical antelope and as its name suggests, when it's using its magic, there's a physical manifestation of electricity which then dances about its horns before leading down its back. It's not just fast, as monsters go, but it's got endurance to along with that speed.

It's rather interesting, being somewhere that's so... open. There's been a few isolated stands of trees and bushes that also sport water pools or a river, Draven called these places a coulee but otherwise, it's just flat, obscure landscape. Even now, he's able to see the smoke raising up from Bison's Stampede as the sun is setting and they should be able to reach said spot mid morning.

"So... What is this meeting about?" StringsJAM inquires and he replies, "It's internal Devil business. Draven's Head of his House wants to meet with him."

"Role-playing." The other Player muses and his friend's ears flatten, he can only guess how annoyed his friend is. "In someway, yea, but this is something highly unusual as Draven's not considered an adult among Noble Devil society, thus there's no reason to care about his business as long as he does it beyond the home plane." He explains.

"What age is concerned to be an actual adult?" The Satyr Adventurer asks. "A century." Is his reply.

"Pillar Devils, aka Noble Devils, have a longer life expectancy then non-Pillar or 'common' Devils. They also have different appearance and own unique style of magic combined with the kind of lessons and training you'd expect those of high class and political minded to receive." He explains and it's kind of amusing that he's the one to go over this with another Player. "From what I've gathered, Draven's in game age had likely been pass thirty years of age, not sure the exact number but likely early thirties."

There's a huff which causes him to look in his friend's direction just as the transformed Devil Player fully curls up on the ground with his back towards them both. _'Close but a touch off.'_ Remarks his friend and he raises an eyebrow at the other. _"Oh? By how much?"_ He inquires.

 _'When this started, the persona of Draven was thirty-seven.'_ He mentally does the math and snorts before chuckling. "His Avatar's age is actually forty-one going onto forty-two." He explains when StringsJAM gives him a look that means he wants to know what's so funny.

"And his starting level was five?!" The other Player asks with wide eyes. "Well, yea, but then, he also started with a lot more Skills, better Stats, and maxed out House style of Magic." Hitoshi remarks.

"A max out Skill?!" And yea, he had the same reaction when he learnt that. "Just because it was maxed out didn't mean he was overly familiar with all the spells he has access to, there's mini-Quests when it comes to his House style of Magic." He admits, after all, throughout his learning of said House Magic, it's clear when his friend would stumble over a new mini-Quest when it came to his magic and with he completes it as well, it's an interesting sight to see, even when his friend flat out told him back then about that little addition.

"Has he been able to write down any spells he has access to viva the Skill?" Asks the older Player and it takes him a few seconds to realize what's on his superior's mind. "Can't write down instruction of the spell, trust me, I've tried."

He gets a raised eyebrow and he blinks before realizing that he's never mentioned his Mentoring in this House Magic with anyone. "He's my teacher in it and will remain so until I've achieve the rank of Journeyman in said style." It's a lot of spells and arrays to memorize that he's only twenty-nine percent progress towards the title of Journeyman, what comes easier to him is the ones that deal with influencing the mind.

StringsJAM's eyes widen before glancing between the two of them. "I think that if I'm to fully achieve that rank, I've got to start using said Magic Style in actual combat. There's divination aspect to the style but most of it circles around influencing the mind of others, usually making them believe they are something they aren't, generally it's Royalty or a Holiest of Holy leader." He admits and the Satyr glances towards Draven.

He shakes his head, Draven's never used his House style to influence his mind, then again, there's records about which tier Pillar House style actually works successfully on Adventurers and Laborers, those of the President tier barely affects them when they are at full health, it can take hold as their health is ten and under but at that point, there's no point in using it as they're close to being dead regardless. Hence why it was chancy what the Devil Player did to Ultimate Doom.

It means that Ultimate Doom doesn't have a Gods' Marking, thus no protection from the influence of a President tier House style of Magic. Not that it doesn't meant that the insane Villain doesn't have something tying him to the reviving system, just that it isn't a Gods' Marking. After all, there has to be a safety feature ensuring that if the insane Villain died in game, that they'd be revived, right? What's the point of only allowing him the ability to revive his Boss 'Monsters' if he wouldn't revive as well?

There's a slight pressing of lips and he rolls his eyes slightly before casting the Beguiling Mind with the image of having the other Player think he's a she and a dwarf. For a second, the eyes are gray before its gone a second later. "Doesn't work well on Adventurers and Laborers." He states calmly, as though he hadn't just tried to alter the older Player's perception of himself. "Gods' Marking ensures that those Houses belonging to the tier of President doesn't affect us while we're above ten in health, at that point, it hardly matters, the person is about to die at that point."

It's not long before he's explaining more about what he's gathered about Pillar society from talks with his friend, the Devil NPCs, and what he's read from books written by Devils, be it fiction or non-fiction.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

He's not nervous, he's not, he's down right scarred out of his mind about meeting President Lapis and feels wholly justified to feel that way. After all, the President of his House is over nine hundred years old, being head of their Pillar for almost four hundred of those years and still adding to that count, been married to three Devils in that span, been a father five times, and, currently, only one of those five are still among the living, never mind the grandchildren born from when four of those five raised themselves up in the ranks to earn the privilege of being allowed to marry. There have been both attempts at the elder Devil's life and position with only two coming close to ending the Devil's reign as President.

And here he is, at the in game age of forty-one, a young teenager, attracting the attention of the highest ranked member of his House for reasons concerning his achievement in the House Magic. _Yea, great but, I haven't successfully figured out how to transform back to my former body._ He thinks as he walks up the steps of the manor home.

He's really not sure how he managed to transform himself into his current body, he remembers the command that drove him pass his known limits and figuring out how include a healing boost to heal the damage done, but his memory of what he crafted concerning the magical array isn't one that comes to his mind clearly. He's pretty sure that there had been a lot of things in regards to ensuring health and recovery from said deadly injury but he's not sure why it was coupled with transformation magic, that's not something that is typically included as a part of his House's Magic style, even though that the mascot and icon of the House is a leopard who transforms into a man. Yes, tricking others into thinking they are something they are not is covered in the style but it's only a mental trick, a minor alteration to the perception and thoughts of the person targeted, it doesn't leave any lasting impact beyond embarrassment and anger at the caster for being the cause.

Still, none of the Devils seem overly surprised at seeing a leopard walking behind Lady Clotho Bostis, the third wife of his Head of House. She had been waiting for him at the Planar Gate that resides within House Ose's territory and hadn't seemed surprised when he arrived still transformed. He did his best to mind his manners and he's pretty sure there had been a slight upturn of her lips before she proceeded to lead him to a carriage pulled by a team of Striders instead of them teleporting directly to the manor. No small talk had been exchanged and Draven did his best to control his growing emotions by looking out the windows, taking in the sights.

They arrive at what could only be the waiting room and after a look, Lady Clotho enters into the door and he moves to the couch, laying on it as he glances around the waiting room, doing his best not to start panting as he feels his heart hammer away within his rib cage. His tail moves while he manages to keep his claws from digging into the satin cloth covering the couch. There's imagery of leopards among the various decor along with iconic Royal symbols and various holy symbols. The colors are tawny yellow with hints and touches of dark browns, creamy whites, and glossy blacks, the usual colors one expects leopards to come in.

His own gray coloring makes him stand out, then again, his coloring wouldn't look that bad if his body shape followed the lines of a snow leopard but as it is, his body doesn't nor does his coat pattern ultimately does either, just his pelt coloring. Throughout their stay in Order territory, his friend had received a few offers concerning purchasing him from the Elf Player, more then a few just wanting to kill him for his pelt. A number of others wanted him to see if his coat would pass to any offspring, yea, he hadn't been overly impressed with that idea nor had White-Out.

The door opens and he focuses on it, Lady Clotho opens is more and speaks for the first time, "The President will see you now." He moves down and does his best to bow before entering the office, which doesn't disappoint in being both furnished with decor that speaks of wealth and displays the values that President Lapis through what imagery can be found throughout the office. The color scheme also suits the Devil waiting at the window with a flute that sports a periwinkle blue wine, given the wine, he's pretty sure that it's likely fuzzing with bubbles.

President Lapis sports a Prussian blue coloring for both head hair and facial. His Head of House's skin is a red amber color and sporting dark brown eyes. Even if he weren't transformed into a leopard, the President likely would have towered over him, perhaps physically or perhaps it was just the presence of the Devil shines with.

Draven is slow in approaching the desk and as if sensing his approach, the older Devil turns and for a few seconds, he gets this sense of... surprise? Then whatever it is, fades and the expression of cool detachment is fixated on the other's face while moving to sit at the desk, the flute is set on the desk and he waits. There's a tension in the room that is fairly different then he'd expect it to be and he wishes he were anywhere but here. It's pretty clear that his superior is studying him, there's brushes of spells that cause his fur to raise involuntary.

"You haven't been able to reverse this transformation." It kind of sounds like a question but it's more akin to a simple, flat statement. He gives a single nod and there's a slight up turn of the other's lips for a few seconds.

Then there's a pressure in the office and it's like barbs piercing his skin, a lot of them and he hisses as his skin begins to burn. Then there's a yowl and so much pain, he collapses and he's got that counter on again, meaning that nope, he didn't heal anything or perhaps its more that somebody ensure he couldn't heal himself? Or escape dying from said wound?

Blackness engulfs him as the counter gets to four.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

There's a notice informing him that his temporary ownership of Den of the Gray Leopard has ended and then, five minutes later, he's once more resumed temporary ownership. Hitoshi isn't sure what to make of that and so, he finds himself worrying over his friend's health and situation. As he's about to leave his post at the Planar Gate, it flashes and there's a common Devil wearing fairly fancy cloths while sporting the House Ose upon said vest.

The Devil spies him and takes in his attire, lips pressing slightly but the dull red Devil approaches him. "This is External Advisor White-Out?" The Devil muses in spoken Devil.

"I am Gentleman Draven Ose's External Advisor." He agrees in said same language and the Devil puts on a polite mask, it's clear that him being an Elf isn't something the other expected. "A Walking Legend among the Order." He holds out his wrist where the Gods' Marking is and within seconds, it appears.

There's a slight widening of the eyes and it's clear the Devil is startled that not only is he Order and an Adventurer but he's also holds the post of External Advisor to a Pillar Devil. The Devil is shaken but recovers as the Gods' Marking fades back into his skin. "Is there a problem concerning Gentleman Draven's well being?" He inquires.

"Your master is recovering from a Cursed injury. President Ose wishes to know the means by which it was inflicted upon your master." The Devil explains in a chipped tone.

"Shall you be the messenger of such news or am I to pay my respects in person?" He inquires. It's kind of up in the air as to how this will work, given his status as a historic enemy with those who refuse to comply with Order values and philosophies.

"The President wishes to speak with whoever was waiting for Gentleman Ose." States the Devil and he does his best not to smirk, it's clear that this Devil, one Gregor, plans to enjoy the reaction concerning his presence becoming known to the NPC's boss. "This way, please."

He follows behind Gregor the Devil and the Planar Gate permits him entrance, not that it wasn't uncomfortable experience. Arrival at the Underworld is slightly disorienting and it's clear this isn't the Expanse. There's how the sky seems to sport an illusion of a cavern ceiling in the portions of sky that doesn't sport clouds. The sun is more red in color then yellow, it hardly helps that the impression of stalactites hanging over head, as there's shadow outlines of said features closest to where the sun is positioned.

Turning away, it takes him seconds to spy where his guide is and the NPC Devil is at the bottom of the stone platform, there's a pair of Striders waiting there. Both are far more muscular then the specimens that Draven stables. It's not long before he's saddled upon one of the Striders and within minutes, have the Striders in a trot. Keeping an eye on his guide, he takes in the sights of the Underworld, noting the trees along with huge stalagmites that dot the ground. By huge, they are usually taller then the few trees around with fairly wide bases that were likely thicker then needed to be and seem to be considered perfect spots to carve buildings into.

There's fields sporting various kind of crops and are likely variant of said species as well. There's non-Pillar Devils about, there's a few that not only have wings but it seems that they actually could be used to fly in this plane. Their destination seems to be an almost market place hybrid manor. He thinks hybrid due to the number of stalls and the crowd of Devils that seem very comfortable with said location. His guide has them move off to the left, going up a ramp that he hadn't realized was there.

They enter into a short tunnel and stable hands arrive to collect their mounts. Both NPCs glance at him, it's clear they realize he wasn't a Devil but they are quick to glance at his guide before focusing on their job. Hitoshi really shouldn't be that surprised by the decor, but then, compared to the office that Draven has, it makes it look like his friend had been living in a very spartan fashion in regards to decor and the shear variety of art that this clearly public space possesses...

He's not sure where they are going but he doubts that in the President's mind, he warrants the whole office experience. As they near their likely destination, he spies a Devil woman sporting dark green skin with black scales going from her eyes down to her jaw. Her hair texture kind of looks matted and is glossy black. Lady Clotho Bostis floats above her head and while he'd been studying her, she'd been doing the same to him.

"I present External Advisor and Adventurer White-Out, my Lady." His guide says as way of introduction. She blinks slightly owlishly at him before turning to look at the other NPC, who's doing a very good job by not grinning like a loon.

"Greeting, I am told that my presence is expected by President Ose. Is he available?" He asks as politely and in Devil.

He receives another look and just before a mask of politeness settles, he's pretty sure that there had been amusement and anticipation in her eyes. "I believe he is but first, I think I will ring up the kitchen for snacks." The Lady NPC informs him.

She slips into the room, keeping the door just so that he can't see in but also that nobody can see out. As he waits, he mentally brings up his Friend List and without moving his hands at all, selects people for a message. It's surprisingly tricky to type out a message without using his hands but he's pretty sure that it's best that he doesn't alert anyone to what he could be doing. Still, he manages to type something, not as fast as it would have been if he'd use his fingers to do it but he succeeds and does send it.

Just in time as the important NPC opens the door and dismisses his guide before beckoning him to enter. The room is clearly meant to serve the purposes of a magical nature. There's a small table that seems out of place and upon it is a platter sporting a sampling of finger foods along with wine glasses and a bottle of wine.

Hitoshi's breath gets caught at the sight of his friend, who's once more a Devil, and the manner in which Draven is suspended in the air with chains, both actual metal ones and those made out of magical energy. There's, well, shimmering yellow tentacles sporting barbs encircling the gaping wound, they move as they try to cover the area only for the barbs to be destroy at one end of the tentacle. It would repair itself and try again, only for it to happen once more. Getting closer, he spies tiny crimson spectral spiders hunting around the gap, finding and consuming a dark purple with hints of sick green energy when one of those tentacles gets fully destroyed and another seems to 'grow' from another tentacle.

It's pretty horrifying that this scene is more centered around trying to heal his friend then actually cause injury or is the result of torture. _And clearly an example of a cultural differences when it comes to how they tend to their injured and cursed._ He mentally reasons as he does his best to keep control over his emotions.

"..." He turns to find one President Lapis Ose staring at him and he's kind of surprised to note the differences in both hair, eye, and skin color along with the lack of facial spots that Draven generally had. It hadn't surprised him that Lady Clotho Bostis looked different as she wasn't a born member of House Ose.

"How is my master?" He asks cautiously and the very important NPC sends a Look towards where he'd assume the Lady NPC is, there's a trio of other members of House Ose in the room but they are standing in spell arrays and each were clearly busy with empowering the various magics being used on his friend. The color of each magic creates a field or shield around each Devil, making it hard for him to get a clear view of their actual coloring.

"Gentleman Draven's External Advisor, the Elf Adventurer White-Out." The Lady NPC pipes in as a belated introduction. "Advisor Out, your master's Head of House, President Lapis Ose, my husband." _Ah... Now that makes a bit more sense._ Although it takes him a few seconds to realize that she forwent his full name and settled one, likely, what she thought to be his last name.

Yea, it's pretty clear that the NPC likely wanted a drink at this moment, after all, the NPC is pretty ancient, what with less then a century to go before he reaches a thousand years of age. He glances back towards his friend and can't help but want to know just what's going on and how having him up in the air like that, covered in chains, is helping him or getting rid of the Curse Magic lingering in the wound. It's worrying how lifeless his friend looks, he also gets an eyeful of the rest of Draven's body save for the waist and legs as they are still covered.

"The tale if you will, Advisor Out." The NPC President commands after a few minutes, he glances to find that yea, the Devil now possesses a drink in hand and... is that wine purple? Glancing towards the Lady NPC, she, too, has a glass of wine and the contents is also purple in color.

"Yes, of course, forgive me, it's just distressing seeing him..." He glances once more towards Draven before back at the very important NPC. He tells the story of not just that battle but as to the reason behind it, editing it to fit the game world, like supplementing reasons for why Ultimate Doom wanted him and of what he'd done to allow the Devil Player to slip from whatever hold the insane Elf put on to keep the Devil Player as a servant when he no longer wanted to be. The battle didn't need much editing, it's the part of him using Compulsion Magic, which he's a natural with, to give a single command to live, that is likely tough to swallow but, well, Draven had been dying and likely didn't want to die to begin with.

Neither NPCs spoke, it likely helps that any magical rule breaking likely gets swept away with his status as a Walking Legend. Both had taken refills from said bottle of wine as they listened, both clearly committing what he said to memory and it wouldn't surprise him in the least that they'll be asking him to clarify events along with them thinking up new questions to put towards him. "Wife, I leave charge of Advisor Out to you."

"Of course, Husband." With that, the important NPC walks towards the other door, not the one he entered into, and leaves the wine glass upon the snack table. With the Devil NPC gone, he turns to regard the Lady NPC.

"I take it you are unsettled by how we are treating your master?" She asks and he inclines his head. "It's rather surprising that you didn't just start attacking the moment you caught a glimpse of him in said position."

"Devils have their own society and thus, while I find it disturbing that he's covered in chains, sporting tentacles trying to patch up the wound, and tiny spectral spiders crawling around in said wound... I hope it's merely how Devils treat those sporting Cursed wounds." He states, it's hard to keep his tone matter of fact and there's likely an undercurrent of anger.

"The chains are enchanted to suspend his personal time, keeping the Curse wound from killing him. As such, we try and keep him from touching anything at all as it would bleed away the temporal freezing." The Lady NPC explains and he lets out a sigh, feeling his shoulders relax as that is a good reason. "The... tentacles..." _Oh, she's amused by that._ "Are to work on binding the outer part of the injury to prevent any blood loss if the temporal freezing fails."

"The spectral spiders are consuming the Curse's energy, once the Curse's effects are gone, they'll vanish and we'll begin reconstructing the bone, tissue, and skin that the Curse prevents from regenerating. We can't use any potions as the memory of the Curse is still engraved in the body, it'll fade with time but until then, any damage done to that particular area will need to heal naturally without the aid of the usual healing magic." It's rather impressive that there's such a spell that could do that.

"Thank you for enlightening me." Hitoshi says with a hint of a smile and the Lady NPC seems to be rather bemused. "It's not often we have get other races willing to ask before acting." Is her reply and, yea, he believes that.

"If you wish to remain, I'll send for a chair along with another bottle. I fear this one's contents have been drained." The NPC Devil informs him and he nods politely. "I believe I shall, my thanks."

With that, Lady Clotho Bostis leaves, taking the most likely empty bottle and used glasses out. He moves to lean on the wall, he finds his gaze trailing about the bare arms and shoulders. _Kami, it's like there wasn't any real changes between his skin pattern and his coat pattern, save for the whole fur being a thing._ Hitoshi thinks to himself before he brings up his Message and begins to go through them.

For the moment, he allows himself to be distracted by the content of the replies. Then, he mentally begins to consider how to report his encounter with President Ose and his wife, Lady Clotho along with the state Draven is in plus how they are going about treating said Cursed wound. He leaves off actual descriptions of said spells, just noting their coloring instead. The Elf Player also thinks of how to answer the various questions the others are inquiring about.

A chair does arrive along with another bottle of wine, taking a minor break, he decides to sample some of the platter and the wine. The wine that pours out is that same purple and it's got a hint of a sweet taste but there's a tang after taste. He isn't sure what to make of it but, well, it does seem to get him tipsy. He eats a few items and that helps speed up the ending of his tipsy condition, the foods do taste alright besides them looking a touch stranger then normal, but then, it's likely due to crop variants that are grown here on Underworld plane.

Stated for now, he takes the chair and puts it down, then, because he's curious, moves to get a look at his friend's back and isn't that surprised to find the usual leopard spot pattern being familiar to his gaze and memory. Curiosity stated, Hitoshi moves to sit on the chair and does continue with his replies and report.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

It's kind of surprising that when he opens his eyes, he finds himself, well, alive and sore. Lifting himself up from the bed, he pulls himself up and finds himself in a very nice, clearly Devil suited room. It takes him a bit for his tiredness to fully leave and for him to realize that yes, he's back to being a Devil and that the life threatening injury has been taken care of. Touching the spot and it causes his soreness to increase, so he decides to leave it be.

Feeling a familiar need, he moves the covers and crawls to the side of the bed before moving to get up. Once he's standing, Draven heads for the most logical space for the toilet and finds it. It's a few minutes before he hears the side door open and someone moving around. Then, "Draven?"

"Washroom." He replies and is finishing up, there's a leaver he uses once he's done and heads for the wash basin. The door opens and White-Out has a particularly odd look on his face as he gazes at the toilet that he just finished using.

There's some blinking and he's kind of curious as to why his friend is here with him. He kind of wants to use the shower but it's clear that his friend is worried. "... You can flush that? Wait, never mind, I don't want to know." The Elf Adventurer states, rubbing the bridge of his own nose.

Yea, none of the Players need to worry about bodily functions or generating sweat and he's curious as to how that'll effect things when they are back in their actual bodies after twelve years of not needing to worry about either. _Well, surely someone's realizing that problem and is thinking up plans to fix it._ He muses as he greets his friend, "Good day."

"You're looking better then I saw you last night." White-Out informs him and he really has to take his friend's word about that. "You gave us quite the scare but then, I guess none of us expected that the wound would be Cursed."

 _That, explains a lot._ He mentally realizes as he remembers the count down happening at the office where he'd been meeting with his Head of House. "The area's going to be tender until the effects fully fade." He realizes.

"Yea, can't use the usual healing magic to heal any damages to said area until it's lingering memory is gone." Agrees his Advisor and he looks up to see that yea, being in the Underworld means that Title is fully on display, External Advisor White-Out. "Advisor Out according to Lady Clotho Bostis."

He couldn't help it, he cracked a wide grin and chuckles and for a bit, his friend is clearly confused before realizing the pun. "Oh for the love of... So glad you find that amusing."

"It kind of is, honestly, I'd thought Advisor White would have been picked before..." He trails off and his friend merely rolls his eyes. "I guess some Pillar Devil is willing to display a sense of humor." The Elf Player remarks.

"Well, it's also the obscurity of the situation of a Walking Legend agreeing to work for anyone who isn't connected to the Order." It's an old conversation, just a different spin really and it helps ground them both.

After a bit of silence, he look his friend in the eye and says, "Now if you excuse me, I would like to have a shower or bath. Some of us actually do need to bath once in a while."

For a few seconds, White-Out starts at him and then there's like something dawns on him. "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something we've talked about?" Wonders his friend and he shrugs. "Don't know if we ever talked about it myself, then again we might have before the Merger." He remarks with a shrug and it's then that he notices the cloths that his friend is wearing, as in, more akin to finely tailored suit sporting his personal mark.

"Ah, they got my measurements somehow and ordered this and a few spares for me to wear." He nods and begins to take off his pants. "Ok, I'm going, I'm going." There's a touch of red as the Elf Player leaves, closing the door behind him.

Shaking his head, he finishes undressing and puts the clothing into the appropriate basket that's under the shelf sporting a selection of bathing items along with care products for teeth and such. There's a robe waiting to be used upon the shelf, with a nod, he heads for what passes as a Devil's tube and checks to see if there's the shower feature. He's kind of hungry so he picks the shower function along with calling up the temperature control to alter it from its default setting, he's sure to grab the hair care products and select a soap before stepping into the area.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

They are traveling back to the Planar Gate, it's evening now and his business with his Head of House has been completed. He then managed to perfected his ability to transform into a leopard, with the right coloring to go with the body shape, and was able to turn back without outside assistance. This awarded him standing within his House as the Youngest Grand Master of House Ose style of Magic by unlocking that self transformation ability and it's more then likely that, if this wasn't just a game that's going to end in bit over eight years, once he reached his hundredth Birthday, he'd have an easier time in pursuing a career in Magic.

He's pretty sure that he'll be receiving invitation to official House functions after this as well, after all, his External Advisor is a Walking Legend and no Devil has ever managed to tempt one of those sporting the Gods' Marking into their service before, particularly one who was a former captive. Draven's not sure if he's looking forward to attending said functions but knows that he'd best work on attuning that Minor Planes Gate to the Planar Gate that's within House Ose's territory. There's going to be a heck of a lot more visits to and, perhaps, visitations from the Underworld plane.

"It's really been bugging me." He glances towards his friend, eyebrow raised. It kind of sounded like they'd been talking about something only they haven't.

"Oh?" He inquires and White-Out hums, looking up at the sky. Draven looks up as well but doesn't see what the problem is.

"Is there or is there not, a cavern ceiling up there?" The Elf Player asks. "I mean, I keep thinking I'm seeing stalactites up there?! I got to know, are they really there?!"

He blinks owlishly as he stares up at the slowly darkening sky and... well, yea, now that he gets what White-Out is concerned about, he does spy said rock features. "Huh, well, it's called Underworld for a reason and, well, magic, White-Out, magic." He finally decides to answer with upon looking down and towards the road ahead with a ghost of a smile likely on his face.

His friend spits and spurs for a few seconds before sighing in defeat, in the end, they were in a game world and thus why should the sky, maybe, ceiling of the Underworld plane matter? It's unlikely that Players were expected to visit this plane, not when there's plenty of others that sound so much more interesting to explore or to raid. _Well, they could feel they are obligated to try and wipe out the race based off of the Christian faith of all things evil and sin._ He admits in his mind but, well, the server they were on was for Japan, so what were the odds that they'd have a lot of Japanese Christians playing this game?

In the end, he can't wait to return to the Expanse and head back to his fort. There's a lot to do and he's pretty sure that the repairs should be wrapping up soon, given it's been over a month since that attack.

To be continued . . .


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

Leaning backwards in his chair, he reaches out and grabs the mug of Sunbeam Peach Cider that's on his desk, gulping a mouthful of the drink. His paper work is completed for the day and there shouldn't be anything new for him to review until next week, which he's very pleased with this arrangement as it means he isn't stuck in his office all that much. After a few minutes, he finishes his mug and leans forward before getting out of his chair.

Leaving his mug on his desk, Draven begins to arrange the various documents and is sure to sort through them as he does. There's a number of the documents that will be sent to Commander Night/s_Thorns of Company Wonderment, _can't believe they kept the name_ , with most marked for Head of non-Order Relations, StringsJAM, all of said documents have to do with scouting reports concerning areas that Players haven't been able to 'play' in and about which merchants have accepted the invitation to attend this coming September's month long Trade Fair at the Den of the Gray Leopard, which is five months away.

Other documents are more akin to purchase orders concerning said future event along with the usual renewal of work contracts that also includes reviews to see if they earned any bonuses and pay raises for the next period. There's no building permissions this week, but then, the finalized expansion plans happened last week and his various builders have just began in earnest with said project. The foundation had been started long before they finalized how the above ground building will look and it's lay out, they hadn't rushed in that regard, drawing it out as they continued to discuss what would work.

He's fully prepared to see recommendations for new workers as both building laborers and general staff come next week. He's already hired more guards three months back and that bunch should be finish with their training, ready to help guard the building project twenty-four seven. The new buildings will be a warehouse, a Company Compound that had been commissioned by Company Wonderment, the building plan left up to his building planners, two stables, tavern inns, and shops. The number of tavern inns being a good dozen and there's going to be dozen shops sporting living quarters attached.

In time, it's likely that there will be people looking to set up houses, paying him rent for the use of said land. The Devil Player wonders how many of his hirelings are thinking of stacking claim to plots of land around the fort to settle down, working it. He knows that a number of his staff have been doing some research concerning what kind of crops work best here in the Expanse, as long as they give him notice of such plans, he hardly finds it in him to mind as, well, there's always more common Devils looking for work after all, the difference would be in minor hiccups in operations within his fort as a wave of new Devils get use to working at the fort and finding their niche within the staff structure.

As he finishes, White-Out enters his office and he looks up, his friend looks kind of intent about something. The Elf Adventurer blinks for a few seconds and studies him intently for a second. "Yes?" He inquires.

"... Never mind, really, I kind of wish I hadn't been told." His friend tells him after a few minutes of silence along with his face getting flushed. "Yea, I think I'm going to... my room, for a bit."

With that, the Elf Player leaves and he's honestly confused as to what caused such a reaction. He's known White-Out for almost four years now and the last time he'd seen his friend like this has to do with a message from X-Rei. He'd never got the details but it did seem to cause some slight paranoia when it came to the usual flirts and complements that his friend often gets from the females among his staff and guards.

"Could it be another message from X-Rei?" Draven muses out loud to his once more empty office. _Odds are good that the answer is yes._ He muses to himself as he moves to pour himself another mug of cider.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"So... what's gotten into you?" _Again._ He asks White-Out upon the way the Elf Player seems to cross himself at the sight of X-Rei riding next to RetroInenium, it seems that there's a one sided discussion going on.

"Nothing's wrong! Nothing at all!" The voice is a touch higher then normal. There's a cough and a throat grunt before White-Out speaks once more, "I just didn't expect she'd volunteer to be part of the vanguard."

He kind of wonders if it's his fault for this strange relationship going on between X-Rei and his friend, after all, it seems that time discussing magical theory left an impression on the other Player. From what he's learnt, joining the same Company allows Players access to messaging their fellow members, it's like a level one feature of being part of a Company while it's a level nine feature for Guilds. Yea, it kind of surprised him to learn that Guilds and Companies do actually earn experience points as their members preform certain Quests and participating in Raids. Which is how X-Rei has managed to reach out to White-Out viva messages.

"Well then, it's clear that she wanted to surprise you." Draven states with a knowing nod as he looks towards the vanguard, September first is a good five days away. "She's looking to attend U. A. High's Support Course and you're aiming for the Hero Course there. Give what your Quirk is, you'll need support items to help you out in combat situations, you know she's brilliant and she's driven."

"You make it sound like we'll be able to after all this is over." Remarks White-Out and he points out, "And how many teenagers do you think ended up in here? Grad students? Office workers? Teachers? Pro Heroes?"

From the corner of his eye, he watches the way White-Out to jerk his head back at the mention of Pro Heroes getting caught up. "Honestly, they're going to need to set up something to help catch everyone up their studies along with aiding in relearning skills, never mind physiotherapy and special diets to help us build up our muscles after a year of being almost comatose." He muses.

"Or learning how to deal with their Quirks again." His friend sighs and he hums in agreement. "Well, they could very likely be given Quirk suppressing items during that period." The Devil Player suggests.

Their conversation comes to an end as StringsJAM finishes talking with the group of fifteen Players and looks their way. He begins to walk towards the Company Compound's entrance with White-Out taking a few seconds to do the same. The Elf Adventurer is here for the obvious reason of speaking with the Satyr Player and is kind of being his body guard so that they have privacy. He doesn't like talking about things concerning Players and Game details with his hirelings within hearing range, particularly when they don't have anything occupying their attention besides ensuring his safety, it reminds him far too much about his situation before the Merger.

"Gentleman Draven. External Advisor White-Out." Greets the older Player. "Adventurer StringsJAM." He isn't sure what Title to use given the labels used for both Guild and Company positions are pretty much the same and, well, Head StringsJAM doesn't seem right but then, using the whole Title is a mouthful. "Sir." And unlikely White-Out, he's not a member of the Guild or the Company, he's an Ally of the Company Wonderment but not of the Guild.

The current highest ranking member of the Company just grins in amusement while the other Player seems to be studying him, it's not that surprising as the last time they saw each other, it had been only for a day at Bison's Stampede and then for the duration it took to travel away from the prairie area and then they parted company, with White-Out coming back with him to Den of the Gray Leopard. He had to Conjure up a Spectral Mount, which took the shape of a Blazing Bison due to how easy it was to get his hands on some tuffs of said beast's fur, for that trip, which costed a lot of Magic and a few strands of fur each time he had to caste the spell and it only lasted for four hours at a time.

And yes, he did end up teaching them both that spell, although, of course, they had an easier time casting it due to being Walking Legends. Although the cost of Magic wasn't as great as his own, the cost in material was greater at the cost of a dozen strands of fur then his two or three cost. It had been amusing, seeing the modifications done to the wolves to make them ride able. The duration of said Adventure Conjured mounts weren't that great but that's hardly surprising as it's one of those spells that can be ranked up. Then, when it was just his friend and himself, he taught White-Out the Spectral Messenger spell, figuring that White-Out will need to know it in the future as the other Player now has responsibilities of belonging to a Company to think of and would allow them to stay in contact.

"Well then, mind accompanying myself and White-Out to our offices, Landlord?" He blinks for a second at the title while his friend groans slightly. "Hmm." He hums instead of replying overly to the sudden title, there could have been any number of ways to respond to that but managed to repress the urge to do so.

He's pretty sure that White-Out knows him well enough to know that there's going to be long drawn comeback to that slip of the tongue. If the Elf Player doesn't feel so spiteful in showing others that he isn't a villain, he's sure that White-Out would have used his Quirk more then a few times during their respective debates and needling each other with word play. _And to be fair, I have driven him close to that line of his._ Draven mentally admits.

Friends they are but they also argue with each other, often times over what seems to be such minor things, yet it's never driven them so far apart that they declare their friendship over and done. Tempers cool after some hours apart or after some self reflections over the course of the week, they have each taken turns approaching the other with an apology for any hurtful words spoken in the heat of the moment. Things would be awkward for a time but then they'd just get pass it. Neither versions of himself know what a healthy friendship is suppose to be like, as Draven grew up knowing that politics being a corner stone in Pillar Society and as Izuku, well, the relationship with 'Kacchan' hadn't been healthy since it became clear that he'd never gain a Quirk and that boy ensured Izuku was thoroughly isolated from the rest of their age peers.

 _What a villain._ Is his thoughts as they circle around the topic of Bakugo. Humans are social beings and denying him the ability to interact freely with others of their age, that was cruel and crippling. _There's a reason solitary confinement is considered a punishment._ A prison without physical walls... _How can you escape that?_

There's some guilt lingering about throwing Lord_Murder|Exploder to Ultimate Doom for experimentation and he acknowledges that there likely always will be. But then, he knows that the bulk of the adults at the school in both Bakugo and Izuku's life failed them, none of them intervening or even suggesting to their parents, or parent, that it might be in their child's best interest that one of them attends a different school. Instead of Bakugo's ego getting curtailed, it was allowed to grow and, well, maybe the world will never need a Quirkless Pro Hero, given the trend of how fewer and fewer Quirkless are being born, but they could have least try to remember that not that many generations ago, all humans had been Quirkless and yet, human still rose to their position at top of the food chain without needing them. Humans have always been a driven species and doing what's usually considered 'impossible' by previous their generation or generations.

 _No person is born equal, only in death are all equal._ He mentally quotes. "Are we getting close?" His friend wonders and after a few seconds, he comes to a stop. Turning to look behind him, he finds both Adventurers following behind him.

"This is my first time in the building." _How would I know?_ He informs the pair. "I'm fairly certain StringsJAM should have a map of your main building." The other main building is the Company Barrack, it was built like an apartment complex from what he's seen of the plans. The smaller buildings are work stations, a stable, and an indoor training area that's ready for a space enlargement enchantment to be cast upon it.

"Oh? Oh!" And the Satyr Player is quick to pull out the map from his Inventory and White-Out moves to stand closer to get a view of the map.

It wouldn't surprise him if said map has an enchantment on it. The pair are clearly focus on the map and he glances around the hall. There's door spaced out and he tries to recall what floor they were on, doing his best to recall the number of stair cases they climbed, this building is six stories tall and sports a large basement and that there's a stair case that leads to the roof of the building as well. The Devil Player recalls that the roof had caused some confusion with his crafts people but that's all he can recall about what's special concerning the roof.

"Ok, we need to get to the sixth floor, that's where the offices for the Company's important heads are going to be located." The older Player states. "We're on the third floor." With that, the Satyr Player takes point and he follows behind the two with a slight bemuse expression on his face.

They do reach the sixth floor and the whole of the sixth floor is pretty much sectioned off along with finding the stairs that lead to the roof to be in the final room. "I take it someone has plans for the roof." He muses as he moves to stand at the bottom of the cork screw stairs.

"Going to build a massive green house up there." StringsJAM informs him, his voice making it sound like the other is grinning wide and proudly. "The basement is where we want to build our own mini gate."

He glances towards White-Out at the mention of a 'mini gate'. The other gives him a lazy smile and, well, if they want to build something that expensive but useful, _good for them_. His own is only attuned to the Underworld and to the Planar Gate in House Ose's territory in particular. "A lot of our people want to try building a Stargate, it's something based off of an old pre-Quirk American movie turned TV series." StringsJAM continues to chat about.

"You see, in the both, the gates had these codes that would tap into different gates that were off world and we've got people interested in seeing if they could mimic the same kind of dial system here." _Ambitious._ "I mean, your own is generally attuned to the Underworld but it's only recently that you've picked a particular Planar Gate as a set destination."

"There's reasons for that." He remarks in a slightly dry tone and his friend sighs slightly, recalling the visit from his, as Draven, parents. "My achievements in the family Magic style means that I am in a strange place within the House." Not an adult, yet considered something akin to a Grandmaster in regards to his House's Magic style, which it usually earned as an adult. He's too young to be an adult but he's too powerful not to be one. Paradoxes like that are generally something that comes up concerning Adventurers and Laborers, thus easy to brush off without trying to really categorize it.

 _Never mind the whole hired an Adventure._ That kind of thought isn't something he likes to get stuck thinking about and had, until this pass year, been able to put off thinking about. Never mind that he's teaching an Adventurer his House's Magic style. _So not going to dwell on that._ That's a headache he wishes to never have.

"Ah, yes, well, since such things can be attuned to different planes we should be able to create a dial system for each of the planes, it's a matter of code cracking." StringsJAM informs him with a wide grin and there's just something about the mood that makes it seem that the other Player is suddenly younger and oh so less tired. "We've been more then able to recruit the cream of the Players as it were."

That's hardly surprising, given that Wonderment Company has been secretly playing middle man when it comes to Non-Order merchants and Players. They've also been able to get further from Order territory without being overly harassed by Non-Order races, well, as long as they have the right Mission Agreement but these days, the Non-Order have heard of said Company and those smart leaders have taken a wait and see approach to a Company founded by Walking Legends and Wonder Makers. It likely helps that they have been able to hire the Company for their own personal reasons and see them fulfilled by said ancient enemies.

 _Another paradox._ He muses as StringsJAM talks about certain Players, none of them ring any bells within him save for X-Rei. It's pretty clear that StringsJAM is just pleased to talk about anything at this point, he wonders if they'll have to carry the older Player to the barracks at some point.

He pulls a minor tanker of Rust Mead along with some mugs upon gracefully moving to sit on the floor. With ease, Draven uses an Apprentice Spell to pour mead into each of the mugs. StringsJAM seems to blink at the offered mug. "Rust Mead." The Satyr Adventurer takes it and sniffs it while White-Out moves to sit down, picking one of the other mugs and takes a sip out of the mug.

"Aren't you both underage?" Remarks the older Player and he gives the other a slight grin. "Devil." He then purposely gulps down the mead in one go and then begins to pour himself more.

"Whatever age restriction is active, it doesn't count him as being underage." His friend reports. "Hence why he's capable of purchasing and drinking said drinks."

"Might be due to the lack of Gods' Marking." The Devil Player adds thoughtfully and StringsJAM sighs but does take a sip. There's some lip smacking from the Satyr Player as he remarks, "Not bad, then again, sake is more what I'm use to."

"Rust Mead?" Muses StringsJAM after the other joins them on the floor, silence settling within the room. "Named for the color." White-Out informs the other.

"You been sampling a large number of drinks, huh?" Remarks StringsJAM and his friend merely gives the other a devilish grin. "Hard not to, given how much he purchases for both himself and for his underlings."

"Perhaps you should eat something to help counter the effects, huh? Wouldn't want you to get too drunk that I'd have to carry you to your room." He remarks, gently giving his friend a slight nudge with his one hand that's closest to where the Elf Player is sitting.

"Shouldn't that be your job? After all, you're the one playing host." StringsJAM pipes in and White-Out groans upon face palming with his free hand.

He gives the Satyr a slightly toothy grin. It's clear that the other senses something as the emotions on display are quick to change from confusion to surprise to dismay and settling on resignation.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"Problem Devil." He blinks and looks down to find ErasingError standing before him. "Sir." He replies as a greeting, it's pretty clear that this conversation between them is going to be a serious dressing down.

"Enabling underage drinking is against the law." Begins the more then likely trapped Pro Hero. "Never mind the fact that you yourself are underage, no matter what your Avatar or persona says."

 _I wonder if he doubles as a professional lecturer?_ Draven wonders as he does his best to keep his composure as the dressing down continues. _Substitute teacher maybe?_

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

Shouta is helping create the frame work of the future roof top green house. "I can't believe you actually lectured him." White-Out says in a tone that pretty much means it's rather unbelievable to the Elf Player.

He merely hums as he directs the Elf Adventurer to keep hold of the heated metal as he hammers it. Although he's privately not sure to what degree his lecture had on the Problem Devil but he's at least made it clear that he's not going to tolerate the selling or offering of liquor to those unable to purchase it for themselves. Needless to say, he's fairly sure he drove his point home.

Though it's rather pitiful that Tensei hadn't been able to verbally defend himself from said thirteen year old going on fourteen year old's verbal teasing and probing. _Even if the persona had been close to forty years of age, it's pitiful._ He thinks to himself.

The September event is in full swing now yet they are taking shifts when it comes to construction of the green house frame work. He's done his best to ensure he's on the same shift as the Problem Devil's External Advisor, ensuring that the younger Player knows that he's not allowed to sample any more liquor from here on out. There's nothing he can do concerning Draven's ability to purchase or drink said liquor, they've all taken it for granted that those underage couldn't get a hold of said liquor and it seems that they all expected that the same restriction to apply on the Problem Devil once the Merger happened.

 _Clearly that isn't how it works for those who don't bare the Gods' Marking._ The Dwarf Player mentally admits as he continues with his work. There's a lot of things that don't apply to those Quirkless Players and the Villain, this liquor issue is just another thing to add to the list.

"Is it true? I mean, X-Rei kind of dropped hints but, well..." He mentally frowns.

"That some Players made Avatars of the opposite gender?" The younger Player shifts uncomfortably and he mentally reminds himself to speak with said girl about secrets and why you shouldn't share them.

"Yes, it's true." And then pins the other with a Look. "Don't spread that information around, we're trying to figure out how to alter the gender to line back up with their real life gender."

"A poly-morph ritual would fix it, the longer you want the change to be, the more ingredients you'll need." White-Out informs him and he blinks. "I did some reading about what almost happened to me. It didn't much for me to realize I could help with the problem, although I did wanted to include Draven only I didn't..." The Elf Player sighs, looking kind of sad. "She messaged me about it. She was frustrated and thought I'd be someone she could trust."

"I don't think she gets a lot of sleep, honestly and not a lot of people seem to... 'put up with her'." The other Player continues and he feels old yet rather relieved that there is something they could do to fix said issue. "Have you messaged her about this ritual?"

"No, figured you guys wouldn't want people knowing that it exists. It could cause all sorts of problems, Players are paranoid enough as it is." White-Out admits and he mentally approves. "Here's what I've pieced together for that kind of ritual." A minor stack of a dozen papers are offered from the other's Inventory.

"Have you tested it?" He puts them away into his own Inventory and the Elf Player's face reddens while nodding rather hastily, looking anywhere but at him. "Yes, it works. It took me a bit to figure out how much to use for an hour duration. It's all in there."

"Draven rarely pokes his nose into my private business and I never left my room during that time." The Elf Player says. "There might be better ingredients to use but given the nature of the issue..."

He smiles slightly, pleased by the other's initiative along with thanking any Kami for that. "You did good." White-Out smiles at his praise, looking far more relax now as well.

They do part, he heads off to the privacy of his shared apartment to go over the notes.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

He glances around room, namely at the various single sheets of paper and at the number of books upon a circular table, a table that is crowded with a lot of Players. There's a lot of snippets of conversation going on in loud voices. Hitoshi wonders if he should just turn around and leave the room, demanding that someone enchant a helmet for him to help with such loud volume, but then, X-Rei spies him and waves him over, the various conversations either die or quiet down.

"Well, White-kun, you've been to another plane in the company of that Devil, right?" X-Rei is a fellow teenager, the same age as both Draven and himself, not that Draven knows his age or X-Rei's. "Which one was that again?"

"Aqua Agglomeration." He answers, doing his best to hide his nerves at the attention upon him. "The continent was called Promontory Strand." There's a few snickers at that name.

"Pretty much an ocean plane?" She muses and he hums in agreement. "So, not mineral rich." Another notes and he shrugs.

"How about the Underworld? You've visited that plane too, right?" Another Elf Player inquires.

"Devils call it home and they protect their Planer Gates." He explains. "It's also kind of unsettling." He remembers the illusion of a ceiling up in the sky and how not even Draven noticed the strangeness of it.

"Well of course, it's infested with Devils." Remarks a Human Player sporting braided green hair. _Infested, huh? I'd wager that the Underworld is their home plane._

"Oh hush, Vine/Paladin, yes we are allied with a Devil and so far, we've benefited from that alliance." That earns a heated glare from said Player. Not that the Halfing Player seemed to care. "How else could we get all these books that talk about the other planes? The Non-Order races still have the Planar Gates up and running while the Order's own were left to ruin and disrepair, never mind the fact that the Order higher ups always act like we were pulling their teeth when we asked after any kind of information, be it historical accounts to fictional novels."

A debate begins with Vine/Paladin and the Halfing named VR_Calls2ME. It's pretty clear that Vine/Paladin is likely a Christian in Real Life and feels like they could have found a different NPC to ally with. It also seems that he's accredited with how they got Draven as an ally in the first place, although it's more strongly believed he'd been playing shadow king and using his Quirk to influence things with Draven. He's not comfortable with how easily it comes down to him using his Quirk to keep the so called Devil NPC in line.

He does his best to keep his face blank and mouth closed. It's been a pretty long time since he's been among other Players, he's grown so use to it not mattering that it's kind of like someone's reopening an old wound using a knife. Then Draven's words drift forward and he does feel a touch more comfortable but does decide to end this debate. "Enough! We're suppose to be here to discuss which plane we'll attune the Minor Planes Gate to, not questioning the decision on why we're allied with Gentleman Ose." He decided to channel a bit of his friend in hopes that it'll be enough to get the pair to stop.

"Indeed." He hears ErasingError pipes in behind him just as it looks like the two debaters look like they are going to ignore his statement. Most of the Players at the table suddenly stand straighter and more then a few looking rather embarrassed. It's no long before both ErasingError and Pezntation walk pass where he's standing, the Halfing gives him a reassuring smile as he walks pass.

While he now wishes to leave, to seek out Draven and be reassured that his friend is... Well, he admits that's a rather childish impulse and knows that he'd be hiding behind his friend in hopes of fending this kind of criticism off. "You ok?" X-Rei asks softly and he jerks his head just a bit, turning to look to his left to find that she is standing there, there's a touch of concern there while ErasingError and Pezntation takes over the spot light.

"Just..." He knows she's a stranger and yet, well, they've been in contact for some time now, through messages that she isn't as much of a stranger as the others in the room. "It just keeps coming down to my Quirk."

"You got to admit it's rather unbelievable that we'd be able to work with Draven if not for your Quirk." X-Rei states in a matter of fact way and he suddenly wonders if she suspects his friend's true nature. "Not saying you're always using it, just that you did something and it changed something, something that kind of allowed the creation of Wonderment and the ability to ally with him."

"Yea..." He admits, he recalls the other times he'd used it on Draven but that had more to do with the Devil Player asking him for help, to help speed up and smooth the process. It's been... "The most recent use of my Quirk on him was to..."

He bites his lower lip and looks towards the table. "When I order him to live." Hitoshi admits, feeling like some weight has been lifted from his shoulders. "He was dying and I didn't want to lose him. He'd been my only friend up to that point and..."

"Kind of made a exotic looking feline." Remarks the Human Player and he chuckles weakly. "Yea, but he couldn't transform out of it back then. The killing wound as Cursed."

"So... he can still transform into a leopard?" Inquires X-Rein and he snorts. "Yea, but he's not that exotic looking besides his eyes remaining the same."

"When will I get an official introduction?" She asks him and he gives her a bewildered look. "Oh come on, he's clearly someone important to you and I'd like to get to know him on my own, you know?"

"I think the two of you will get alone far too well." He remarks after a minute of just picturing the two interact. "After all, he'd been the one who was actually talking about that reaction table with back at the workshop. I was just the one acting as his mouth piece."

"Ah! That explains a few things I was wondering about..." X-Rei muses before she gets a toothy grin. "All the more reason for that introduction!"

"Does this have anything to do with wanting to know more about those spots of his?" Hitoshi recalls the last few messages that seem to heavily imply that X-Rei wanted to see his friend naked. "Cause I can assure you that his spot pattern is the same as when he's transformed into a leopard. I've seen his bare back, when the Devils were treating his Curse wound."

"So cruel! I was hoping to talk him into letting me check that for myself." X-Rei states and he sighs, knowing that a few of the teenage girls among the Players have decided that the Devil Player to be something akin to eye candy and perhaps a few have fantasized about him. _It seems I can count her among that number._

"I'm not sure who to be worried for! My sweet and gentle friend or this hormonal teenager looking to eat him alive." It takes her a few seconds to realize which he considers her to be and then X-Rei snorts before chuckling.

"Oh sure, make me out to be the sex fiend and the handsome Devil to be the innocent, sweet natured maiden." He merely keeps a slight bemuse smirk on his face, after all, as a Pillar Devil, Draven is a young teeager and, well, the few books on the subject of Pillar Devil's sex drive suggest that it kicks in between the age of a hundred and five years and a hundred and twenty years of age. In this case, most of the teenagers are far more interested in sex, himself included, then Draven is, for all that he's in his forties.

Thankfully, common Devils maturity is more akin to the rest of the races at large and thus, if X-Rei is right, then Players can indeed have consensual sexual excursions with NPCs along with fellow Players. Given how a certain common Devil has been more then happy to flirt with and share a few teasing kisses, he's rather interested in giving it a try, as long as Decima is still interested in pursuing such an activity with him. Most of the other general staff seem to give him knowing looks, a few, namely three and all related to her, promised to break a finger or bruise his ribs if he doesn't respect Decima's wishes if she wants to break it off.

X-Rei huffs but then looks a touch vulnerable. "He's a young teenager and from what I've read, he's got little interest in sex at his age. It's just that Pillar Devils age different then common ones." He explains and X-Rei blinks, rather surprised by that information.

"But he's still a teenager?" She asks and he nods. "Yes, by the standards of his sub-type, he is, it's just that the whole hormonal kick isn't going to be happening any time soon."

"So, sure, flirt away, just know that his reactions aren't going to be what you'd expect and you shouldn't take his non-reactions to heart." The Elf Player informs her. "And thus how I'm the sex fiend and he's the fair maiden." Remarks X-Rei with a bemuse look but she's also pulled herself together.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"Draven, meet X-Rei. X-Rei, Draven." It's not much of an introduction but it's not a terrible one either, after all, it's hardly like the two haven't kind of met before.

"Nice to official meet you, Mister Not a Pretty Cat." Remarks X-Rei and the Devil Player blinks before snorting. "I wonder how many dismissed that connection as coincidence?" Muses the so called Gray Leopard.

"I think it's the lack of name hovering over the head that did it." The pink haired Adventurer replies as she walks over to claim the couch of the office. Draven moves to his desk and moves the chair near the couch, he does the same with one of the chairs before the desk.

He suppresses a sigh as Draven pulls out a bottle of sparkling drink, it's a Devil made drink and is what's commonly called Mineral Cider, it's fairly nonalcoholic as in, you'd need to drink five bottles of it to get tipsy. The label sports an image of an apple plus a peach, which is likely what it tastes like, it's not bad it's just that he's grown use to being tipsy upon drinking with Draven. He gets up and grabs the on display wine glasses, bringing them over as his friend answers X-Rei's question about why is it called Mineral Cider and if it's alcoholic.

With the glasses on the small table that's before the couch, his friend begins to pour the drink. "Where do you buy it?" Asks X-Rei.

"Straight from the Underworld, it's hardly the most profitable export out of the Underworld." His friend informs X-Rei. "If they want something nonalcoholic, they go with soft cider." The shrug is a 'what can you do'.

"How does it taste?" The Human Player looks to him. "Tastes better then the juices the Order sells."

"Drink a lot of it?" He sighs as he looks at the window. "I'm told I haven't drunk enough of it." He admits once he finds how best to answer that question and X-Rei snorts but smiles widely.

"Indeed." Remarks Draven in a dry tone and he looks down at the table to keep from making a biting comment. "I seem to find myself in need of stocking more of it then I have previously had."

He takes one of the filled wine glasses and sips it, aware that X-Rei is watching him before doing the same. It takes of apples and leaves an after taste of peach. "What did you do? I mean, I'd almost think you pulled that out of an Inventory."

"Pocket Dimension. It's something Pillar Devils learn to create to store items." Draven replies. "The principles of it are rooted from studies of previous Gods' Marking array." He'd read about that and some races have an easier time creating such.

"I doubt they were overly cooperative." X-Rei remarks and the Devil Player responds, "I think you are lacking some education on the matter, so let me enlighten you." Like the dramatic Devil that he can be, he takes a sip of his wine glass before continuing, "The Gods of Order have always sought to improve upon it with each generation. At the beginning, there were no classification between Adventurers and Laborers, they had an Inventory, faster regeneration of both health and magic, and the ability to revive once a week, which didn't stack."

He's read about this and it's not long before his friend has captured the Human Player's attention and ensnared her interest, managing to keep it as he talks about the changes that have happened, it's all in game lore but it's always different when you have someone talking about it with general interest in the subject. It's hardly that surprising, really, Draven had been fairly charismatic when he'd thought the other had been a mere NPC and the other still been brainwashed into being Ultimate Doom's minion, now though, he's not sure if it's because he knows that Draven is a fellow Player or if it's because Draven now has context of what kind of approach to use to get a Player to listen, either way, it's like the Devil Player's gotten better at the whole charismatic approach, then again, there's more evidence of empathy as well.

It's a question of whether X-Rei will remember that she's only talking with a 'NPC' but that's honestly not his problem, after all, it's not his secret to ultimately share. Hitoshi's thoughts do drift to Lord_Murder|Exploder and wonders if he still counts as an Adventurer. There hasn't been any sightings of Ultimate Doom giving the other orders in regards to attacking Players but then, it could be due to the fact that the insane Villain wants to level up Lord_Murder|Exploder before unleashing the former Human Player on the other Players.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

He's sitting in the room with the other Players in the know about Draven and about the other so called Boss 'Monsters', waiting for ErasingError and Pezntation to arrive. It's the beginning of the latest in game year and they've all been up late celebrating the night before. The room is kind of tense and they were all still rather tired.

The doors open and he's a touch surprise to see Draven entering with ErasingError and Pezntation. The Devil Player closes and locks the door before approaching the table. His friend looks rather tried, not sleep deprived tired but emotional tired.

"We got report of an attack on a party of Adventurers that had been returning to Order territory after completing a successful Raid on a nest of Kobolds." Pezntation reports to the people sitting at the table. The Halfing Player looks at each of them before continuing, "Their attacker was a hulking monster that had a Player's Name floating over their head."

"Did one of them get a bead on his level?" Night/s_Thorns asks. "Nothing but there was a cracked skull next to Lord_Murder|Exploder's name though."

"What does that mean?" Asks RetroInenium. "It could mean a lot of things but we're going to take it as Lord_Murder|Exploder willingly joining Ultimate Doom." States ErasingError.

There's a bitter expression on Draven's face as the other folds his hands before his chest. "It also means that Players are going to start asking questions about what happened." He muses out loud.

"And there are people who know that he'd been imprisoned by Draven." StringsJAM states.

"I'll make the arrangements for the transfer, it's only a question of how do I hide?" And that's the question isn't it?

"Poly-morph ritual to alter the body..." He points out.

"We'll need to a high grade illusion for the name, which will need to be tied into something to anchor it on me." Draven muses.

"Why not anchor it to the Poly-morph spell?" Hitoshi asks once everyone has quiet down. He'd been thinking about what to use as an anchor while the others talk about how the others are talking it along with who'll be the puppet owner of the fort.

The Devil Player opens his mouth but then closes it with a thoughtful look. "Is that even possible?" Asks RetroInenium curiously.

"Any item used as an anchor is generally magical in nature, just waiting for an enchantment to be inserted." ErasingError notes. "We'd best research it a bit before we try it."

"The ingredients might need to be different then the normal Poly-morph ritual and it might cause a change or two on the result, it's the nature of crafting hybrid spell arrays." His friend muses thoughtfully as he notices the look in those eyes and how the tiredness isn't in evidence. "Doing it purely with Magic is an option as well, it wouldn't be that different then what I did when I was order to live, only it'll be harder to reverse." Draven admits but clearly not happy with voicing that option.

"But also seemed harder to detect." ErasingError muses and the Devil Player gives a slight incline of his head. "Best to go with the original ritual, easier to reverse and we want it reversible." Night/s_Thorns states.

"Ah yes, your right." It takes them a few minutes to realize why they shouldn't go that route, after all, Draven can't fully disappear and with his House's interest, it never could. "I'll see if I can't find a reason to spend some time in the Underworld for the next little while. I might be able to swing White-Out to company me, that way we can check through what passes as a public library for my House for different ingredients and if any of them came up with the same thought concerning hybridizing the Poly-morph ritual as a spell anchor."

"Might need him here, he's the only one who knows your guards and staff to sooth any ruffled feathers that are going to be coming up." Pezntation remarks, the other members of the Company begin discussing ideas of how to deal with Players asking questions. The Elf Player isn't sure how to feel about the fact that Lord_Murder|Exploder is now attacking Players.

 _Well, logically, he's always been eager for PvP but I doubt anyone will be bringing up any of his many negatives..._ He mentally admits as he pays half an ear to what's going on around him. He's pretty sure that there's more going on beside the fact that Lord_Murder|Exploder is now listed as an enemy but he's tired, they are all tired and thus, not at the top of their mental game.

To be continued . . .


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

 _Two weeks to go..._ Draven thinks to himself as he stares at the date while drinking something that isn't alcoholic nor sports the name Cider in it, he's drinking Hot Cocoa, which can be found growing in the tropical lands of the Expanse, there's different variants of said plant on other planes. _Two weeks and the fifth year will be marked complete. Half way to seeing the end of the game._

This pass year has been headache inducing and very surreal for not just himself personally but for White-Out, those Players who are members of the Company Wonderment, and, yea, the Player base as a whole. The cracks within the whole of the Player base are showing more this past year then before and there's been those voicing that perhaps they should just throw their lot in with Ultimate Doom. Funny thing is, a number of Players seem to think that Lord_Murder|Exploder had joined Ultimate Doom willingly but then, it seems that none of the Players ever thought that there's a way for a Player to remain a prisoner for indifferently.

Apparently, the Players figured that Bakugo would be capable of escaping or he would just kill the guy, which would mean that Lord_Murder|Exploder would then revived at one of the revive sites. So... Yea, nobody had been baying for his blood or head, _well besides Bakugo and, perhaps, Ultimate Doom_ , so, he didn't need a disguise, not that they hadn't researched it, the Company has Plans, _which need a capital letter_ , for such an idea and array. Which meant that few thought overly much about why he'd suddenly left for the Underworld right after the beginning of the new year.

Oh, there's some flake over Wonderment's alliance with an NPC that could turn out to be a Boss 'Monster' waiting to become active, but the information about new areas for Players to 'farm' for experience and resources at along with suggestions about what kind of useful Items they should bring along for the trip. The areas weren't stepping on anyone's 'toes' in a manner of speaking when it comes to Non-Order factions and thus, it gives something for the other Players to expand in and an example of a reason why creating a Company was beneficial while also meaning that this desire for new sights along with new challenges while it won't cut into the progress that Company Wonderment is trying to do with said Non-Order factions in gaining a political foothold.

 _Never mind that they're slowly perfecting their piggy back, code cracking Planar Gate._ Draven muses as the Devil Player picks at the minor platter of finger foods, Feta Baked Mushrooms Caps. His gaze turning from the window towards StringsJAM and ErasingError, the two are pouring over the reports that White-Out and RetroInenium wrote up. He's invented reasons for sending the two to various planes, creating Quests along with securing various products or raw cooking ingredients. The reason for why the two of them is because White-Out, being Draven's External Advisor gives him authority to act on his behalf while RetroInenium playing paid bodyguard.

It's not like it's much of an excuse, just that purchase of said Items had never been top of his to buy list or something he couldn't live without. The products tended to be along the lines of finery while the cooking ingredients are meant for dishes of visiting relatives and he's have three important members of his House visit in the last year. None of whom stayed for longer then a week nor did they have any real pressing reason to visit him either. It had been more along the lines of bore inspired curiosity and an excuse to for a break from their usual routine, which is rather understandable given how different pace the business of Pillar Society goes then among the other races.

 _I wonder if that's why non-Player Elves come across as being overly patient and seem so condensing to the average Player?_ Not that the Players care beyond the fact that most adult NPC Elves and some members of the other races that live to be over a century just seem to be infuriating in how not in a rush they seem to be. _Not that I'll know what that's like, in the end._ The Devil Player muses to himself as he pick up another mushroom cap.

"We might need to send a Laborer along with them in the future." StringsJAM says with a sigh, the Satyr Adventure is rubbing his left temple with one hand while using the other to hold his head up. "Someone who knows the Planar Reader enough to alter it as needed to get the information we need for our Planar Gateway."

"X-Rei then." He muses out loud and the pair seem to have forgotten he's even in their office given how both seem to jerk, although ErasingError's jerk was very subtle that if he hadn't been looking for it, he'd likely miss it. The pair glance at him, both far straighter then they had been seconds before. "She's skilled and she gets on well with White-Out."

There's a sigh from ErasingError while StringsJAM gets this look that says that he's trying to recall who she was. "She also get lost in her work and these missions are time sensitive." He raises an eyebrow, he's pretty sure that between the two Players, they'd be able to keep her grounded.

"You don't think that the two couldn't keep her on track, Sir Error?" He inquires curiously at ErasingError, there's no doubt that the older Player isn't someone involved in law. The Dwarf Player doesn't look overly amused by the use of that particular nickname. "They also have a deadline of a week, they just keep coming back between three to four days." It's more then likely because of RetroInenium's drive to not get side tracked, he's the type who prefers to complete the Quest and return quickly, regardless of the fact that their secondary, non-Quest of getting a feel for the plane they were sent to.

It shows as most of the reports given from RetroInenium are all business and read like instructions. Reading between the lines also show that the Dracoform Player is getting frustrated from White-Out's attempts at swaying the other to do more sight seeing then just in pursuit of the Quest. It's easy to find within his friend's reports at how frustrated White-Out is getting with how much of a stick in the mud RetroInenium is when they've also there to do said sight seeing and getting a feel of the local population. It's getting to the point that he's pretty sure that White-Out is getting rather close of using his Quirk as a threat to get RetroInenium to slow down and relax a bit when they're on a Quest on another plane.

Sipping his Hot Cocoa, StringsJAM groans, likely from the reminder of the Dracoform Player's drive and seemingly missing the point that speedily completing those Quests weren't going to grant any bonuses to the Quest. "I'll talk with him." _Again._ Promises StringsJAM.

He has been tempted to bring up the suggestion of replacing RetroInenium as White-Out's bodyguard but didn't feel it his place to interfere with the Company's business. After all, the Dracoform Player is StringsJAM's second in command and it's likely that the Satyr Adventurer is hoping that the experience was good for the younger Adventurer. ErasingError's expression is pinched and it seems he's not the only one who is aware that RetroInenium really needs to loosen up on his drive to complete Objective A to get to Objective B, plus the Quests weren't that important enough to warrant said attitude in the first place. After all, the stuff they're tasked with purchasing are fairly common Items at said planes.

"And X-Rei is notable for ignoring everything going on around her when she's working on a project." ErasingError states and he hums. "At a workshop, yes, but she won't be at a workshop nor will anyone likely be willing to rent one out to her at a reasonable cost."

He smiles every so slightly as ErasingError considers that before slowly nodding. White-Out is really the reason why RetroInenium hasn't been chased out of the various communities on those other planes, after all, an Elf in the employment of a Devil? It's odd but not unlikely and none likely think that White-Out is an Adventurer, a Walking Legend while it's clear that RetroInenium is and hasn't seen fit to change his usual armor, manner, or stick to speaking Devil. He also is more then willing to advertise himself as an Adventurer as well, hence why the other Player is given such a cold shoulder and is generally ignored.

X-Rei would likely be similar as well, she's clearly a Wonder Maker, a Laborer, and will likely answer yes if asked. So there's a good chance that she'll be sharing RetroInenium's treatment. "You have a point, we'd also need to be sure of what tools she takes as well." ErasingError admits in a slowly, almost painfully.

"If she doesn't work out, we could pick another. Or, you know, send you!" StringsJAM remarks with a wide smile and the Dwarf Player sends such a sour look at the Satyr Adventurer. "You recall that old saying about wanting anything done right..."

There's such a flat and dead look in those dark red eyes that he's pretty sure that he'd shudder if it had been aimed at him. He drinks more of his Hot Cocoa and snags the last mushroom cap. It's not long before StingsJAM uses the empty snack platters as a reason to withdraw from the room, the five trays heading into the other Player's Inventory and it takes him a few seconds to realize that he's alone with the more then likely bad mood Dwarf Laborer.

"You have been meeting with X-Rei and visiting her workshop." _Oh..._ He gives the older Player a simple, polite smile.

"I have been, yes." The Devil Player isn't sure what kind of mine field he just entered but it's clear that there's traps or mines waiting for him to trigger. "She felt that I'm a decent sounding board."

"Just a sounding board..." It's like the Dwarf Player is tasting the phrase, much to his bewilderment. "Has she invited you to her room?"

"And I've invited her into my own once." There's been a few things she wanted to observe him doing, namely using anything within his restroom. "She wanted my opinion of her room's decor. Then had me help decorate it."

"And what did you do the one time at yours?" The tone is rather icy and he isn't sure what this is about. "The restroom, she was curious about watching the various devices work within it and if she could use the sink if I turned on the water for it."

"You haven't had intimate relations with her?" And if he'd been drinking anything, he'd have been spitting it upon realization of what the other meant by 'intimate relations'. Perhaps he'd also be coughing on the liquid as well but he hadn't so he'd more then able snap, "What?! Sex... What?!"

"I'm a Pillar Devil! I'm too young!" He snaps, glaring at ErasingError with narrow eyes as he gets up from the chair. "I can't believe your accusing me of taking advantage of X-Rei!"

Draven's never felt this outraged before, _the nerve of this child of dirt diggers! Of all the things to accuse me of!_ "Take care of your next words, _Dwarf_." He snarls in his native tongue, his body tense and he balls his hands into fists.

He's not sure of when StringsJAM came back but it's when he finally feels his anger cool and he blinks as his head begins to pound. Forcing his hands open, he walks out of the room, needing to put some distance between ErasingError and himself. Once out of the door, he leans against the door and tries to make sense of what just happened.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"Ah... Shouta?" Tensei is clearly worried and, well, it's hard for him to not admit that there's something to be worried about. After all, the scene that his fellow Pro Hero walked in to find had been rather tense and he's unable to figure out a way to calm down Draven.

"It seems that I might have... stepped in it, as it were." He admits. "I confronted him with the accusation concerning his relationship with X-Rei."

"Ah..." The Satyr Adventurer walks over and pulls the platters of food from his Inventory. "You know, Pillar Devils grow at a different rate? He might be considered a teenager but there's no hormones teenage with him. It kicks in after their first century of life."

"I could have used that information before this." Shouta points out and his friend rolls his eyes. "You really should read up on the subject, given we'll be dealing with the long term consequences beyond the game." The other points out.

The recent memory of that angry upon the Problem Devil's face and the very icy rage within those feline purple eyes surges up. Which causes him to rub the bridge of his nose. Oh yes, in that moment, it felt like he'd been on an edge of a knife and feeling rather out of his depth how to defuse the situation simply because it felt like there wasn't any good response along with how those eyes seem to trigger oldest of fear response within his brain. He hadn't been looking into the face of another human but a predator waiting for a signal to pounce.

 _Really doesn't help that his markings only help with that impression._ Nor that he knew that Draven could transform into a leopard. Feeling something being pressed into his hand, he blinks to look at the mug. "You look like you need it." Remarks Tensei and he takes it, gulping it down, it burns on the way down but it does calm his nerve.

"How could... There's plenty giving him those Looks..." He's trying to wrap his mind around this new bit of information.

"Yea but that's because of how exotic he looks along with, you know, the usual. Rich, cultured, and most of all, powerful." Tensei remarks. "Him coming across as the aloof type just added to it."

"He doesn't realize it?" The Dwarf Player asks and Tensei raises his eyebrow. "Of course he doesn't and if he was, it would be focus on Devils." Shouta answers himself.

"Puberty is going to be a very confusing mess for him when this is all over." Notes Tensei as the other refills his mug. He gulps down a fair bit of the liquid and sighs as he pulls it away from his lips, feeling the in game effects and then begins to munch on the food from the platters.

"This is a mess..." He admits and Tensei hums. "Give it a few days before apologizing, it should help settle his temper."

Glancing at the door, he wonders if the Devil Player left. They began to make small chat for the next little while and silence descends with the door opening. Draven reenters the room and after glancing about the table, the young Player's gaze sweeps over them before the other fully steps into the room, closing the door behind him. There's a very neutral expression upon the face and the body language is rather closed off, not that it seems to stop how the younger Player seemingly, effortlessly glides across the floor and returns to his previous seat.

There's a sense of professional conduct radiating from the Devil Player as he kind of apologizes for his previous haste out of the room. It's not overly long before they finish with this meeting, generally talking about which planes will need to be revisited. He's pretty sure that Tensei is right about waiting on giving that apology, but as Draven leaves, he does feel the urge to do just that, which is annoying in its own way.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

Hitoshi sighs upon reading the request for a second time. Oh, he knew something had happened during that meeting but the thought that someone actually broached the subject of X-Rei having spent some alone time with his friend at her room... That was one powder keg that he, at least, wasn't there to be part of.

Yea, there's plenty of teenage girls and, likely, women who like what they see of Draven. It had been a large part of why X-Rei wanted to meet him in the first place but, of course, that changed not that long from the first meeting, largely due to the lack of reaction to the 'subtle' flirting. Given that he'd given her plenty of warning about that failing, she had been prepared and thus, didn't take the lack of reaction all that personally, then again, she did figure out how to create a hot tube that Players can use and it's surprising how such a simple thing seemed to be so startling, he figures it's due to the condition it places on those using it and it wouldn't surprise him that she got the idea from talking with his friend about the topic of inflicting Magical Conditions on people.

 _Thankfully, I got the books and did get around to writing down a rough essay about the topic._ He thinks to himself as he begins to type out a reply. He'll be sure to stop by ErasingError's office before supper after picking up the books and the scroll case that has his spin on the topic.

Which begs the question of how did the topic get broached in the first place? It's something he's tempted to message StringsJAM about, as the other Player had been attending that same meeting. _It's a wonder that nobody ever thought that he and I were an item, given how long we've known each other along..._

Actually, he began to mentally review any interactions he's had with with the opposite gender besides X-Rei, wondering if maybe, just maybe, it had been gossiped about. _Then again, it's really none of their business and I've already got something going on with Decima..._ He's not sure if he wants to know if said rumors circulated, only to learn if it's still in circulation and if it is, to figure out if it's worth quenching.

"Guess what?!" X-Rei asks upon entering the smelt, he'd been reviewing the condition of the equipment within one of the workers, who had heard that he's been running about the planes, it's the beginning of a Quest, likely due to seeing about finding new plans to upgrade the smelt or perhaps something along the lines of getting ingredients to empower the array? The pink haired Laborer moves to stand before him with a wide grin.

"You figured out how to create a functional pair of mechanical wings?" The Elf Adventurer is fairly sure that is one of the many projects that's on a waiting list of some sort within his latest friend's mind, and yes, he's come to realize that he now has two friends. From the snort and head toss, it's clearly not that.

"Try again!" She urges him. It's pretty clear that X-Rei is enjoying this a great deal.

"You've been commissioned to create a pool size hot tube for a bath house that focuses on catering to Players?" _Actually, that's a good idea._ He realizes and it must have shown on his face at that realization as X-Rei does pause to consider that.

"That's an awesome idea! But, nope!" The Human Laborer states, shaking her head while he gets a slightly sheepish look.

"I've been given the go ahead to join ya on your fetch Quests across the planes!" His second friend states with a bounce and a very wide grin. "It seems that I'm in charge of the reader and am given authority to make modifications to it!"

"Good for you!" He's happy for her and, to be honest, could use a buffer between RetroInenium and himself. It's getting to the point where he's been so tempted to threaten the Dracoform Player with his Quirk when they are on those Quests. "We don't have any Quests coming up until a week after New Year's Day." _Which is coming up in five days, actually._

"Thanks!" There's relief and excitement clear upon X-Rei's face from hearing that he's honestly happy that she's joining them. "Is he really that hard to get along with?" She asks and Hitoshi sighs, he's been complaining to both Draven and her about RetroInenium's tunnel vision when it comes to planar Quests that had more going for them then just the Quest that's in their Quest Log.

"It's like he's some kind of robot, that it doesn't compute that we're doing more then just that Quest." He repeats for who knows how many times. "At times, I think he's the one to desire the title of NPC then Draven." _Can't really say that RetroInenium is really Role Playing either, as he's not overly interested in the over all Game Lore or treating NPCs as semi-people to find hidden options or content._

"Yea, I think I get what you mean." X-Rei muses and given she's been spending time with the Devil Player, still in the dark about him being a fellow Player. "Makes you wonder about Expodie, huh?"

Which is a topic that he really doesn't want to think about, after all, Lord_Murder|Exploder's 'betrayal' is still having an unfortunate effect among Players. Given the truth about Ultimate Doom's favorite Boss 'Monsters', there's still a lot more damage likely coming in the future. At this point, it's a question of where they want to construct the prison then the what kind of arrays they need.

Which is another reason for accessing the other planes. _Heck, we might split up the idea to single cells on different planes, maybe even create one on each plane..._ The Elf Player thinks before he does his best to unwind.

"I need to pick up this Quest and then we can talk some more, ok?" He tells X-Rei and his second friend blinks before glancing around. "Quest?"

"Well, that's where my discussion with him seemed to be leading to." Nodding towards the Devil who seems to be doing his best to not fidget, but does look up at mention of him wanting to accept the task.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"Wow! What a rush!" Draven blinks as he feels something moving on him and next to him.

"And just why are you..." He trails off at the sight of the female that's kind of draped on his chest. The most definitely woman, _can't be any other gender now could they_ , looking at him with bright gemstone orange eyes.

"By Gods... How am I going to explain this?!" He feels the beginning of a headache while the woman seems to chuckle in embarrassment before realizing their position. Feeling the weight move and get off, the unknown Fae, the Name floating above her head isn't in a language he knows, apologizing.

"Ah yea, sorry about this, I kind of followed the most clear signal that's unfiltered in the game." He sits up but keeps himself covered as he regards the Fae, he's pretty sure she is a member of the Gentry, Fair Folk, Fae, Faerie, or commonly spelt Fairy. The wings are very similar to those of a dragonfly in design but are not transparent at all. "I'm a Technopath!"

"That... explains a great deal, actually." The Devil Player admits as he takes in her teal hair, dark brass skin tone, and bright orange wings with veins of yellow that glow softly. The self proclaimed Technopath blinks as she seems to be at a loss of what to do now. "Draven, commonly known as Gentleman Draven Ose and owner of the Den of the Gray Leopard."

There's a slight snicker at the name of the fort. "One of the Quirkless Players." He adds and that sobers her up.

"Actual name?" The woman asks and he gives it with a slight bitter smile, "Midoriya Izuku."

There's a wince and a clear look of sympathy. "You're the one who..." She trails off and he nods.

"Yea..." He can only guess at how the system reacted to his near death. "I'm hardly the first to... The others have been..." It's a hard subject to discuss with Night/s_Thorns, after all, it's hard not to harbor a touch of resentment how the other Quirkless Players don't have to worry about things or that they need to be careful in regards to keeping themselves alive.

"We're working on wrestling the revive command concerning those others from the Villain." Assures the still unknown woman. "So... You're a Devil."

"And you are a Fae." He counters simply and she looks surprised at being called such before taking in her current appearance. "Wait, really? Wicked! Yo, call me Mab, you know, like Queen Mab of the Winter Court!"

"You look more Summer or Fall then Winter." Draven feels the need to point out. The newly arrived Technopath takes a look at her wings, causing them to spread wide upon her back. "Oh! Good point! Got to pick something fitting the character." It's not long before she goes silent, her focus is on her thoughts, which means he's able to slip away to the bathroom after pulling out a robe to cover his Avatar.

"Nuala... I think that works." He's a touch surprise as he returns from his bathroom. "Call me Nuala!" Then the newly dubbed Nuala blinks at the bed before looking around the room, blinking at the sight of him now out of bed along with getting a better look at him. "I half expect you to have a tail..."

"Common Devils can have one." He states simply. "Noble Devil, or Pillar Devil."

"Pillar... Ose... Noble Pillar... Pillar House... Oh! I get it! Like High School DxD! So, there's an Underworld here too?" Nuala asks.

"Yea, it's a different plane though and Peerage system either." It didn't take him long to realize that she'd likely ask about that, if she's familiar with said anime and/or manga. "Also, I'm underage in Pillar Devil development, even if this stage of m... their life are considered teenagers."

"Ah! Anyway... Mind pointing me to the nearest Pro Hero?" The Fae Player and he notices how there is now a name floating above her head.

"I'll escort you to the Wonderment Company's Compound." The five foot tall Fae snickers at the name. "I had no input in regards to the name."

With that, he turns and leads the leaf cloth covered Fae Player out of his room. Thankfully, they didn't encounter any of his Devils as he exits into the courtyard and the guards do give Nuala nervous looks while looking at him for reassurance that everything is fine. Draven manages to do just that and the gate opens enough for the both of them to exit out of the fort.

 _White-Out is sure going to laugh his ass off about this._ He mentally reflects. Early risers among the Company do pause to stare at Nuala as they arrive but they don't try to stop either of them. It's fortunate about not getting sidelined at the gate but at the same time, he knows that it means that the Compound is rather defenseless as there's no sentries to alert the Company to any attacks or keeping out undesirables, namely thieves, without a gate guard questioning any who wish to enter and exit.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

He's at the kitchens of his fort when Nuala wanders into the kitchen, she beams at him and he wonders just why she's here. "Nuala." Draven says with a nod as he places the bottle of wine back on the counter, next to the four others that he's trying to decide he wants to store in his office.

"Draven! I need your help! It turns out my Character Menu is more akin to yours then the actual Players along with what can I do to gain exp to level up!" Nuala's arms are behind her back and her wings are nowhere in view.

"I see." Which is true, in someways, the way he experiences the game is a great more... organic compared to the common Players. "You know how to bring up your Character Menu?"

She hums and nods, it's not long before it's clear that she does just that. "Then I do this..." The Fae Player comments and flips the Menu into a sharing mode.

Nodding, he steps closer and getting a better view of the 'window'. "Level is 5, which is what I started out with..." He comments out loud in hopes of calming some of Nuala's worries. "Did you take a look at your Bio?"

"You think I should?" To which he merely nods and watches as the 'window' shifts back into privacy mode, which likely means he can't share the information of his own Bio Tab. Draven waits for her to come out of reading the information but it's beginning to sound like it's going to take a while as it's clear she's not skimming but actually reading and memorizing what's written.

"Wow that's heavy." A few minutes later and she mutters in a very different language that he doesn't get but the body language makes it clear that it is in exasperation. It's starting to look like he should have suggested she does later instead of right away.

He returns to choosing which of the five wines he wants in his office, paying half an ear to Nuala's mutterings in that other language or in one he can understand. By the time she's finished, they've been in the kitchen for a good two hours, he's also gently moved her out of the way of the kitchen staff so they can begin on making lunch and prepare for supper along with him narrowing down his choice down to two bottles. "Ok, that was... Wow, so detailed! And it does actually give me some ideas about the whys for my Skills along with my racial features."

"Glad it helped." The Devil Player informs the Fae Player. "A lot of history in the end but there's enough for me to Role Play a Fae."

"So, I just need to go out and experience the world then? Just 'live' it seems..." Nuala muses and he guesses that's one way to sum up the difference, the Players get exp from killing monsters and completing Quests, then, depending of whether they are an Adventurer or a Laborer, exp for subjects related to their respective Class.

"Very open world compared to the other Players." He agrees and Nuala snorts but nods in clear agreement. "But without their safety net." The Technopath notes with a frown.

"Yea, yea we don't." He can't help but glance at her. "Does coming here like you did mean that..."

"No, I'll be sent straight out and suffer one massive headache plus nausea, can't forget the nausea." Nuala scowls as she crosses her arms across her chest, the leaf based cloths barely ruffling from the gesture. He studies his guest, not really sure as to why she's still within the kitchen now that she's got some idea of what to do in regards to leveling up along with a huge amount of information concerning the likely history of the Fae.

 _Well, she could have been re-reading parts._ He admits to himself as Nuala's gaze goes to him before at the bottles. "Well, that's something that is a maybe then craved in stone."

Nuala studies him, looking right up at him, after all, she's so much shorter then she snorts before laughing. "Damn, it's hard to believe your only thirteen." The Fae Player remarks and he can only imagine the look on her face.

Draven is tempted to bring up the fact of the Merger but leaves it be. After all, if she's been told about it, she's still likely reeling from the revelation. There's a reply at the tip of his tongue but it might come across as him flirting, so changes the subject as Nuala's laughter dies down. "When do they plan to reveal your arrival?" Changing the subject seems to be safe ground in the end.

"Tomorrow." Nuala states as she moves to leans on a counter. "I'm only going to be in here for an in game month, so, there's going to be a lot of meetings and appearance to make."

"Oh, I'm sure that the Order will be happy to host you." He remarks with a slight snort and Nuala blinks thoughtfully before snorting. "Good point!" There's clear bemusement in her tone as he's unable to really get a clear look at her face. "Which means I should be sure to level up when I get the chance! Which should be interesting given my Skills."

Nodding, he takes the two bottles and puts them into his Pocket Dimension. "Shall I walk you out?" He inquires politely and Nuala glances at him, a thoughtful look. "Well... I was hoping I can spend the night here, after all, you have bathroom connected to your guest rooms."

He blinks at the reason before nodding. "I don't mind, I take it that you'll be leaving for Order Territory tomorrow?" He inquires and Nuala hums, he gives a minor gesture for her to follow, leading her to one of the guest rooms.

"I'll have something sent up for lunch." He promises as he opens the door, Nuala merely nods before darting into the room, he closes the door. With that done, he heads for his office and does fulfill his promise of informing a passing Hireling to arrange lunch for Nuala.

It's not long before he selects a bottle to put in his office while deciding to hold onto the second one to drink later. _I should visit ErasingError and apologize for my reaction concerning that accusation along with learn if they need anything from me concerning this coming month._ Draven muses to himself as he moves to stand before a window, looking out at the courtyard.

To be continued . . .

 **To Readers:** Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, last Monday and Tuesday saw me working both days.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

Even knowing it was coming, Draven finds it hard to work up the energy to really feel any concerning the fact that a good nineteen of Players switching allegiance, willingly, to Ultimate Doom's 'side'. Yesterday's news weights heavily upon him, so much so that he finds it hard to raise out of his bed. Staring up at the cloth canopy of his bed, the Devil Player muses about the pass three months since the arrival of Nuala and two months since her departure...

Messages had been gathered up by Wonderment Company from the Players to be passed along to their respective families for Nuala to carry along when she exited out of the game. He hadn't known what kind of message to pass along to his mother and, in the end, he only passed along a simple enough message of he's well and misses her, which, well, is true enough. He's pretty sure that if his emotions from Izuku weren't numbed, he'd likely be thinking of her more but it's also likely... he'd be suffering from a heck of a lot of emotional baggage and likely be tearing into himself over his lack of control of events. From reviewing his memories of being Izuku, that's the conclusion he reached.

 _Draven Ose on the other hand..._ Well, as Draven, he knows that there's more things going on that he isn't aware of and thus, couldn't do more then be ready to adapt to any given situation while doing his best to have what he can on hand for any situation. The world doesn't revolve around the teenage Pillar Devil, after all, and had been treated as just another potential heir of the House's Title, which he fines to be a relief compared to the hyper focus that as Izuku seemed to be viewed with simply because of a lack of a Quirk, that somehow made the past him regarded as some kind of danger or an object of scorn, the very source of everything wrong in his mother's life beginning from the moment he was born to present and, most likely, in the future.

So, yes, because of his memories of Izuku's life does Draven know why the other Boss 'Monsters' are so keen on causing suffering among the Player base and also knows that unlike those other Quirkless Players, Izuku's anger and hatred likely never was pointed out at other people but focus inwards, at himself. _A price for being so empathic, I think._ He muses to himself. The Devil Player knew that he hadn't been overly passionate when it came to dealing with the Order, he'd been far more interested about the return of Adventurers and Laborers then the decaying Order.

Pushing such train of thought from his mind, he finally rolls to the edge of his bed and sits up. Looking down at his hands, he turns them to look at the back of them, studying them. Try as he might, he finds it hard to imagine his hands being any other color and only sporting faint scars along with burn marks. With his twin tips of his tongue, he runs them over the teeth while lifting his head. A few seconds later, he just moves the two 'fork' tips of his tongue about within his mouth, it's both a familiar and natural action yet knows that it will one day be considered a surreal feeling.

Finish focusing on his tongue, he does some stretches before pushing himself up out of the bed. Allowing himself to be lazy, his pose is much more relaxed while pushing strands of hair from his face. It's not long before he's done having a shower plus use of the toilet. Standing before the polish metal that serves as a mirror, Draven takes his time studying his face, first on his eyes then on his skin along with markings, and opening his mouth, he takes in the state of his teeth. He makes a few faces and finds himself snorting every so slightly, even doing a mild, not really chuckle.

His hair is rather straight, plus long, and is far silkier then his hair as Izuku. _Should I try to do something with it?_ He wonders to himself. Generally, he leaves it to its natural state with it going down his back. There have been a few times where he's had someone help him style it but those times had more to do with his obligations concerning his House. It hasn't really grown much pass a certain point and it's not like it feels odd, having it as long as it is nor just leaving it to fall on his back.

 _I wonder what White-Out's natural hair color is?_ He'd yet to inform X-Rei about his situation and isn't sure he wants to either. His relationship with most of those already in the know is... weird at times, particularly in regards to ErasingError and RetroInenium. The suspected Pro Hero that is ErasingError has this odd habit of treating him like teen in regards to the most random of things and at the strangest of times. It's only started when Wonderment Company fully settled in their Compound, which means that being within 'reach' might have something to do with it. It's been a while since that whole accusation concerning some kind of 'relationship' going on between X-Rei and him, they both had found the apologizing to one another to be awkward.

 _Do they even know about the fact that it's a little too late to try and put a stop to that kind of relations? Players might not be doing that with one another but they sure are doing so with NPCs..._ Draven muses to himself. Yes, he knows about White-Out's relationship with one of his staff and accepts that as long as both consent to it, it's none of his business, after all, it's unlikely his friend is using his position to force anything with her.

"Which makes me wonder... Why did he think that of me?" He wonders loud as he regards his face in the polish metal mirror, a look of puzzlement is being reflected back.

Sighing, he gives up trying to figure that one out, it's likely due to him just plain missing the right piece of the puzzle that would make all the pieces make sense. Standing up a touch straighter, he pushes his hair behind his back before heading out of the bathroom. A glance towards the door, he begins picking out what he wants to wear for the day, which ends up being a Black Silk Undershirt, a Snow Sheep Wool Jacket that had been dyed blue, Cotton Pants dyed a matching blue, he is sure to put on woolen socks before the pants, and finally, black leather boots. Draven hums to himself as he leaves his room, his pose and face schooling themselves to be a proper fit for a Devil of his status and position.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

It's kind of hard to swallow the news of what happened concerning those nineteen Players. Being on the Tyrant Terra Plane kind of gives him an excuse of working through his anger concerning those Players. Hitoshi finds himself breathing rather heavily as he stares at the body of a Screeching Glider, which is pretty much a four foot long sugar glider with dark brown coat sporting lighter brown stripes on the back plus a creamy brown belly and throat. The dead Monster sporting three of his Enchanted Thrown Daggers and five of his Poison Dart Ammo from the firing Gauntlet that X-Rei created and is Equipped on his left arm with one left in the round.

This is the third Screeching Glider he's killed this morning. He encountered and killed four Dart Hares, six Fallen Leaf Vipers, and a pair of Bi-Horn Aurochs Bulls; this breed of Monster sports four horns in total. Pulling himself up, standing straighter now, he closes his mouth and marches forward. It's not long before he's Looted the body and as he is about to advance further, he gets a Message from X-Rei.

Reading it, he sighs before turning around and heading back for camp at a jogging pace. _Damn it! How could I forget? I'm not the only one here! That I'm not the only one who's going to be affected by this news?!_ He thinks to himself as he picks up his speed.

Robo-Kun is heading for the Planar Gate. X-Rei's message read. Which left his friend, who's a Laborer, alone at the camp site.

"Did you Message the Company?" He asks once he's arrived to find X-Rei packing up the site. "Yea, not sure that it'll change Robo-kun's mind though. You know how narrow his vision is when it comes to viewing the world."

 _Sadly..._ The Elf Player mentally admits. "StringsJAM really should have pulled him from coming with us due to the Glacier Radiance Incident." He states as he moves to help with the packing.

"Still can't get over that name for that Plane... Permafrost Province..." The pink haired Human Player snickers and he feels a smile tug at his lips, he's in total agreement that the names of the various Planes can be so ridiculous.

It's not long before the two of them sober up. "I think I'm going to inform Draven of this too." He admits and feels his friend's eyes on him but doesn't remark about it. He does his best to focus on breaking camp, which should be a three person job but they manage.

Once done, he does indeed write out on a sheet of paper a message for the Devil Player. Rolling it up, he casts the Spell he'd been taught, it doesn't take the shape of a spectral leopard but that of a spectral eagle, which absorbs the rolled up message. The eyes light up and within seconds, the eagle vanishes from sight, crossing the void between Planes without the need of a portal of any sort, but then, the eagle wasn't a living being but a construct of magic.

There's a metallic rumbling and he turns to find that X-Rei in the driver seat of an almost motorcycle, it's kind of one only it's got twin wheels at the front while the body is more akin to a triangle with a set of wheels on either side of the widest part. "Are you sure you can drive that?" He inquires and his friend merely laughs, likely would be waving his concerns away with a hand if not for the fact that would mean letting go of the handle gears.

"To be fair, I doubt you can too!" _Point._ So he climbs onto the back area and takes hold of the hand holds provided. "Ready?"

"As I ever will be." Is his reply and with a slightly nervous chuckle, X-Rei does something and the machine jerks forward twice before finally speeding forward without a stop. The ride is terrifying in that she miss judged the space needed for the back end but she doesn't drive them right into a tree either. The few times they encounter a Monster, he's quick enough to cast a Shield Spell, so they didn't end up needing to deal with any incoming attacks or hitting said Monster with the vehicle.

Then they almost drive by RetroInenium fighting off a swarm of Corpse Makers; a single Monster is the size of a grown man's fist, bright yellow and orange in color, they also sport two sets of transparent wings, and come across as a hornet or wasp crossed with a mosquito, only instead of a stinger it's the needle meant to drain blood from the things it sticks with it. Swarms on average number thirty but it seems that their fellow Player found one that numbers over that, but then, there is a dead Bi-Horn Auroch not that far from where the Dracoform Player likely entered this part of the forest.

They come to a stop some feet from the battle site and he's already pulling out a Greater Fire Breath Potion from his Inventory. He throws it at the dense area of the swarm and using a minor Fire Spell to activate the potion in the air. The resulting fire ball is a decent size, which is to be expected as the potion usually has only one focus path to take out of the one who consumed the potion. The transparent wings burn up and he's already firing basic Dart Ammo into the thinned numbers.

"Stop helping!" Snaps RetroInenium. "If I died, I'd revive on the Expanse!" Which is where he was headed anyway.

"Yea, no. You're not getting off that easy, Robo-kun!" Growls X-Rei, who's using her own Firing Gauntlet during his own weapon cool down phase, where it activates summons more Dart Ammo from his Inventory and prepares to fire once more by taking from his magic reserve.

"Agreed." Hitoshi states. "You are not returning to the Expanse by dying, you idiot!"

"Yea?" And with that, he gives in and uses his Quirk. "I order you to fight until all of these Corpse Makers are dead!" There's a second but the command takes hold and there's a marked difference in RetroInenium's fighting style, there's no waste in movement, no over reaching. There's just this calm, almost emotionless, look and position.

In the next few minutes, the swarm is dead and his command fades, leaving his fellow Adventurer to jerk before turning to look at him. There had been no need to keep hold of RetroInenium's mind, given the nature of the command given. "You... you..."

"Yes, I did do it." Hitoshi states as he does his best to force his pose into a calm and collected one. "I finally used it on you." The Elf Player confirms once he's standing before RetroInenium.

Jaws snap shut as RetroInenium tries to figure out what to feel about this turn of events. "You. Are. Not. To. Blame." He states. "Those Players made their choice, they decided to betray us."

"They only did so because of what happened with Lord_Murder|Exploder! They don't know the truth of what happened with him!" There's clear accusation in the other's eyes.

"What I allowed to happen? Or the position that Draven found himself thrust into?" He muses with a icy tone. "Having to pick between who to sacrifice in regards to Ultimate Doom?"

It's clear that RetroInenium is angry, the off hand's hand balls into a fist while the other balls around the hilt of the sword tighter. There's slight shaking going on with RetroInenium's body and arms. "There's no good answer, in the end. Eight hostages still in enemy hands and the ninth isn't out of danger." The Elf Adventurer states in a matter of fact tone as he stares into the Dracoform Adventurer's eyes.

"There's a chain of command for a reason! There's laws for a reason!" Snaps the silver scaled Dracoform.

"The world is not so simple, RetroInenium." He states in a calm and cool tone. "Even now, there's no real governing body within here, even with the Guilds and the Company, the Players have the option of ignoring whatever decisions the collection makes. It's the same in real life, actually, only difference is, there's people capable of enforcing those decisions are those we call laws and death is far more permanent."

 _And we call those that break the laws Villains._ Hitoshi thinks to himself. "Ah... Should you two be talking about this? Here?"

He's quick to glance at X-Rei, having forgotten she was here and capable of listening in. "How much of that did you hear?!" Demands RetroInenium and he palms his face with his right hand, feeling embarrassment on his fellow Adventurer's behalf over such a stupid question.

"All of it." States the Human Laborer and he sighs while the sound of RetroInenium's sword falls onto the ground, it's pretty clear that his fellow Adventurer has something new and more pressing to despair about. "And I rather not like the way it sounds like White-kun could have ended up as Ultimate Doom's pet monstrosity." The so called smile on her face, it's more akin to a snarl even thought the tone seems airy, light even.

"But in some regards, you did answer about whether or not Neko-kun was one of those Bosses serving Ultimate Villain." X-Rei muses. "He picked to save White-kun when Ultimate Villain had his sights on White-kun instead of deciding to go along with Ultimate Villain." _And now Draven has his own nickname._

"To be fair, his choice was a selfish one." He admits to X-Rei. "Still, he made a decision and saved you regardless." The Human Player states.

"You just?!" RetroInenium clearly doesn't know how to respond to that. "Secrets!"

"Most of which spoken involve myself and Draven." _Along with Lord_Murder|Exploder._ He admits.

"Now, are you done running? You aren't the only one feeling the weight of secrets and the price of lies." Hitoshi asks RetroInenium, having turning back to face the Dracoform Player.

"Or we'll drug you up to the gills!" Chirps his friend.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"So..." His friend trails off and he sighs. "Neko-kun's Quirkless and was forced to forget his status as a Player, Gentleman Draven Ose is the name of the crafted persona that was slipped onto him."

X-Rei moves to side to his left, they did end up having to drug RetroInenium as the Dracoform Adventurer regained his 'resolve' to hunt down those nineteen Players to bring them to 'justice'. "So, his interface situation is similar to Nuala's?" He snorts a bit before correcting that, "It's likely more like, her interface is mimicking Draven and the other eight's interface."

"He's aware?" She asks after a minute of silence. He glances at her, turning his head just enough before sighing.

"Why don't I just start at the beginning? It'll answer most of your questions and give you an idea of why it's a secret." Hitoshi offers.

"Shouldn't Neko-kun be around for this?" She inquires and he couldn't keep himself from sporting a likely bitter expression. "He lives with the reminder every day... Besides, I did send a Message and another spectral eagle to inform them about your learning of this."

"Geeze, I'm not sure if it's worth knowing more if it's such a big deal." Complains the Laborer, who's using her hands to lean back on the log. Looking across the fire, he wonders about their options when it comes to RetroInenium, at this point, it's clear that Knowing is eating the other Player up from the inside.

He hates that he ended up using his Quirk to get the other Adventurer, sure, he had threatened the Dracoform Player with it at the end of the Glacier Radiance Incident, but never wanted to follow through with it! "What's with that face?" The Elf Player blinks and realizes that he's thoughts were on display.

"I might have threatened him with my Quirk but I never wanted to follow through with the threat." Hitoshi admits with a heartfelt sigh. "Today... Today I used it, sure, it was a simple order, one that he'd likely already been willing to follow but..."

"He wasn't thinking clearly." Remarks X-Rei and he snorts, feeling his eyes begin to roll before he knows it. "That's hardly the point! I... I just... it was just so simple, it was a cheat... He couldn't defend himself! I hadn't even given him a simple warning about what I was ready to do!"

"To be honest, even I don't know how your Quirk works, besides the stories of you being able to give people commands and they have to follow them. I doubt he knows a lot about it either, so giving a warning wouldn't have done anything besides give him a chance to, you know, kill himself with his own sword before you did anything." X-Rei informs him and he blinks before realizing that few people knew how he activated his Quirk. _Draven knows... The Company leadership might suspect the trigger..._

"Ok, point." He admits. "It triggers when someone gives me a response, preferably verbal one. It's called Brainwashing."

"Huh, interesting." X-Rei muses and he sneaks a glance towards her. "My Quirk isn't like that, it's called Zoom and allows me to see people or objects from far away."

"You know, this is a strange topic of discussion, I mean, yea, it's usually one that people find themselves talking about not long after getting introduced but something about... It just doesn't seem to..." His friend gestures about and it takes him a few seconds to realize how strange such a normal conversion topic is when, well, most Players don't have Quirks in the game.

"It doesn't seem to be a normal topic to talk about, does it? After all this in game time..." He muses and X-Rei nods her head, he sees her hair moving.

"Likely why it's become almost a taboo topic along with our real names and live outside of the game." She remarks and Hitoshi turns to look up at the sky as he considers that. "Imagine, once upon a time, people actually never had Quirks to break the ice with. Kind of a strange experience, almost historical in nature." He remarks after a while once he lowers his head and turns to look at X-Rei.

"Or a lesson of how Quirks have really come to shape our society in more ways then the obvious ones." His friend remarks as she gives him a smirk. They both remain silent after that, breaking it in order to inject RetroInenium with more sleeping drug and turning in for the night, secure that the Ward Spells will keep them safe enough or alert them to any danger.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"How long?" Shouta asks Tensei, after all, it's clear that his friend's younger brother is beginning to find the weight of the secrets concerning Draven and Lord_Murder|Exploder hard to carry around. It's also more then likely that it's been signs of the toll before X-Rei's Message and White-Out's assurance that they have Tenya in their care and is sleeping, only mention of White-Out's Quirk being used in regards to keeping the Dracoform Player from committing suicide viva Monster.

"Shouta..." Trails off Hizashi while Nemuri gives Tensei a simple comforting hand upon a shoulder from her position of sitting to the Satyr Player's left. It's clear that this is hard on Tensei yet, he has to press on with the topic as it does relate to Tenya's mental well being.

"He's been feeling the weight of guilt from keeping his silence for sometime, hasn't he?" He muses and Tensei looks up at him, meets his eyes before nodding. "Yes, it got worse when we picked him to be White-Out's bodyguard. Being around him..."

 _So, he did his best to ignore it and to pretend it wasn't happening._ The Dwarf Player deduces. "It's not like we can lock the kid up, Shouta!" Hizashi and he blinks as he looks over at his best friend.

"We don't need to lock him up, Hizashi." Nemuri states and he nods in agreement. "Tenya doesn't want to Know and with the right wording..."

"We'd have to get White-Out to go through with it though. And the kid doesn't like what his Quirk does." Pipes in Tensei.

"Getting Draven on our side would help with convincing him." Nemuri remarks simply and given the Problem Devil's history with said Quirk... He would be the best one to approach, as long as we word the command right.

"Given the events revolving around Draven and his previous requests when it came to the after math of said event, he might see the benefits of its use." He allows. "Although, he might try to see if Tenya could find it within him to make peace with the knowledge first." He admits with a sigh and Tensei's eyes brighten at the thought, clearly not thinking of it that way.

"Which would involve get an actual honest answer from Tenya." Hizashi points out. "Which likely means using the Quirk to get that answer in the first place."

"Either way, we'll need to wait until they return." He states. "It's going to be hard on White-Out one way or the other." _He'll likely lean on Draven afterwards for moral support._

"How did that minor meeting with Draven go?" Hizashi asks, turning to look at Nemuri. She gets a thoughtful look on her face before speaking, "It went well, it was mostly about increasing the number of scout teams and suggestions of certain members being temporary hired for said mission, getting placed under White-Out's 'office' as it were."

 _Thinking that RetroInenium would need time to recover from this break and not suggesting that it's a larger issue._ The Laborer muses as he considers the likely reason for such a suggestion. "Do we have enough information concerning Planar Travel?"

"We likely do, at this point. It's just a matter of actually using our modified Gate to travel to and from said another Plane." Tenya admits. "We have at least two different power sources for it now and the tests show that having two does help keep it stable when we didn't feed any codes to it. We have ideas for another two power sources if we need to increase the power needed for the Gate."

"How many Players are rearing to explore the other Planes?" Hizashi asks with a clear grin on his face and Tenya's previous mood gone. "A great many and we now have enough of those 'Illusion' Arrays prepared to keep our Members of our Company from being spotted or sensed as Walking Legends and Wonder Makers without any problem."

"That explains the complains concerning the number of Devils spotted near Order Territory." Hizashi remarks and it makes sense for the Company to assume the form of Devils as they know the most about said NPC race to pass themselves off as members of said race. Devils, both kinds, can be found everywhere among the Planes while the more hot headed Pillar Devils preferring the Expanse due to the presence of the Order, a group that they can raid to their hearts content as most of the elder Pillar Devils have long term interests outside of the Expanse.

He has used the Poly-morph Array that's modified to hold Illusion anchors to pass himself off as a Werewolf. Spent a good month in the Packland of Fenrir's Grave just to ensure that it could pass such scrutiny of a race known for keen senses. He'd pass himself off as a child as well, which gave him leeway in regards to his lack of knowledge and manners. _A runt of a Werewolf child at that._

It's not long before the topic changes to vacation spots and over due vacations, which Hizashi makes certain he knows that he's got little say on the matter when it comes to taking time off for some R&R. Shouta merely keeps silent, he's tired and wouldn't mind slipping away to take a nap. Letting their discussion just sweep over him.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"Why the long face?" Draven manages to control his startlement to look up and finds not just Nuala standing before his desk but another two Pillar Devils, only they appear to be under the age of twenty years of age. The way their eyes shimmer is a very big clue to their being under two decade years of age.

"Nuala." He greets the Fae Player, glancing at her once more. "Who's your friends?"

"Their names are floating above their heads." She points out and he glances at the two again, his eyes focusing on one Rosa Bathin. Dark green hair that's short and spiky with a skin color of a rich brown while her eyes are shimmering through the various shades of red. Like most Pillar Devils under the age of twenty, the body doesn't really hint at gender, making Rosa's appearance something akin to a handsome woman or a pretty man if not for the name.

 _House Bathin... Duke tier Pillar._ The Devil Player muses while said Rosa Bathin seems to be focusing on the rest of the office after a few seconds of returning his stare.

"Pleasure to meet you, Draven Ose." He turns to regard the young Pillar Devil, trying not to cringe at reading the House name. "It seems that the game has a sense of humor." The voice is the same one that inquired as to his mood.

"Well, it is startling to encounter someone sporting the name of a House of one of the Kings, Sir Splinter Paimon." Draven admits, it's an odd choice for a first name. Splinter Paimon's eyes shimmer through the color spectrum of yellow while sporting bright, vibrant blue bangs and silver hair that's longer and thus not as spiky as Rosa's hair, and sports rusty orange almost red skin tone. There's clear markings upon Splinter's forehead that could almost be pass off as a crown, it's hard to see if there's an actual band connecting the prong spikes that seemingly sport a royal purple 'gem' with an outline of gold and silver. Each of the prongs sport different size 'gems' along with having the seemingly gold and silver creating a different design, well, the three that he can spy between the bangs at least.

There's a clear widening of the smile upon him revealing that bit of information, which means that whoever is now wearing the Devil 'skin' hadn't done much reading concerning the Pillar House system that Noble Devils fall under. "And what of House Bathin?" Inquires Splinter.

"Duke tier House." He explains and Nuala chuckles. "So, both out rank you." She concludes and he shrugs.

"Their ages are showing." He gets three questioning looks and he explains more, "The shimmering eye color? It means they are under twenty years of age, they are akin to kids under the age of ten." He's not sure if that's explains it very well but it's more to due with how impulsive kids tend to be under that age, really.

"Oh, so that's suppose to be natural..." There's clear relief and he isn't sure what to make of that. "You... didn't land on the Expanse, did you?" Draven muses.

"Nope! Ended up on the Plane Apocalyptic Eclipse as someone wanted to leveled up before arriving here." Her gaze and that of Rosa's is on Splinter, who merely shrugs in response, clearly not ashamed of that plan.

"So... What's new?" Nuala asks and he sighs. "That bad huh?"

"Are you sure you want me to give you the news? I'm sure that ErasingError or Night/s_Thorns would be happy to fill you three in." Draven isn't sure he really wants to talk about it, particularly given that it's only been four days since they ended up having to modify RetroInenium's memory concerning certain truths that the Player felt he could not continue to handle knowing, not permanently, just until the game ends.

 _White-Out is holding up pretty ok, but then, it wasn't really him that did the memory editing, ultimately, all White-Out did was provide RetroInenium the means to forget the information he wanted to forget._ It might not be much but, well, it gave the Dracoform Player control over the issue. _Even if StringsJAM was clearly crying over the whole ordeal._

"Oh?" Nuala muses while the two new Devil Players seem to be studying him with great interest. It's pretty clear that all three of them are interested to hear this news now.

"Nineteen Players recently defected to Ultimate Doom's side and a long standing issue in regards to a Player got addressed." He explains in simply terms. "Said Player couldn't find it within himself at this time to come to terms with certain secrets and so, he was given control over the ability to forget those secrets that he couldn't reconcile with until the time this game ends."

There's a hard glint in Splinter's currently dark yellow eyes while Nuala sighs and there's a look of sorrow upon Rosa's face and within her eyes. "How... interesting." Remarks Splinter, while lightly and airily said, it's clear that he's angry.

 _Very subtle but the eyes do little to hide their emotions at that age._ Draven muses to himself. Yes, the childhood he recalls at that moment is technically 'false' but it's been programed into the world, into his House members and records, thus it might as well be 'true' regardless of the nature of this world.

"Should I pay... White-Out a visit... Paimon?" Rosa pipes in, it's the first time she has spoken. He wonders if the pauses had to do with real names and figures it's more then likely.

"That sounds splendid but I think we should pay... Erasing... Error a visit first." The eyes are no longer circling through the dark shades of yellow and it's clear there's humor coloring Splinter's tone. It's clear that Rosa finds the name funny as well.

"Think you can set up three rooms for us?" Nuala asks before leaving the office. He gives a nod and she gives him a wide smile while the other two seem rather puzzled as to the request.

Soon enough, he's alone in his office and he pours himself some wine, feeling his mood not being as heavy as it had before their arrival. Leaning back in his chair, he considers this development as he drinks his wine.

To be continued . . .


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

 _You'd think having the Principal of U.A. High School would lift moral and get people to be more receptive to hearing the truth of their situation then..._ Draven feels like ramming his head repeatedly onto the roof of the stage at the riot going on below, when Splinter, AKA Nezu or Mr Principal, finish explaining the time frame involved concerning them returning to their previous life, which also included months of physiotherapy, mandatory counseling sessions, and helping them reintegrate into society given that people have missed a year of school or have been let go from their respective jobs.

All the disguised Devil Player said was the honest truth in regards their situation and it seems that most of the Player base refuses to acknowledge that, in the end, the world outside of the game had continued along without them. Was it horrible that they are paying the price due to some Villain wanting to trap them all up in a game? Yes, yes it was and yet, he knows that life's not fair. A lesson drilled into Draven Ose's head in hopes of him living to see his first century of life and one that Izuku experienced having grown up Quirkless, where everyone considered him useless without a Quirk, even though there are Quirks out there that got written off as weak.

With a flick of his tail, Draven turns away from the sight in disgust. Yes, a good number of those down below are likely teens and kids, like a good sixty percent while the other forty percent are supposedly adults. Adults who are not being reasonable at the fact that yes, this game is going to end and they will be able to have their Quirk back along with reconnecting with friends and family without relying on a third party.

Ears flat, he slinks towards the back of the roof and then begin to descend down viva leaping and using a spell to cushion his descent. Ignoring the bellows of outrage and the screeches of pain, the Devil Player heads for edge of the treeline that surrounds the huge theater, there's likely an actual name for its kind but he doesn't recall it right now, within this Order city. He'll transform within the trees before he transforms into his normal Devil looks and swiftly activate the Enchanted Coin to alter his appearance along with name so he can return to his home, the fort commonly known as Den of the Gray Leopard. The Wonderment Company's Compound is locked up and given what he witnessed with his own eyes, it'll be some time before they'll return to occupying said Compound.

While he feels for ErasingError and co, Draven is more then happy to not be part of the headache concerning the soothing of tempers and reasoning with such stubborn, hard headed people who clearly want to be difficult because they can or out of some sense of being owed something. _I wonder if they have plans to have White-Out and those few others to use their Quirks if things get too out of hand._ Draven muses as he takes a moment to study his hands before regarding his cloths, which are so very different then he'd normally wear. Finding it odd to see a dark brown tan instead of his usual gray skin plus spots.

The race the Enchantment poly-morphed him into a Human along with an Illusion over his name above his head, it should read Finn Denland. The last name is among the list of Human NPC last names, Wonderment Company had done a lot of information gathering over the topic of NPC names for their own, private operations, namely spying on Players and on Order NPCs. Wonderment Company know more then enough about Devils to move among Non-Order factions disguised as that race, after all, they can learn Devil Skills and have a general idea of how Common Devils act.

It's not long before he arrives at the stable he left his Strider at, the mare is disguised as a normal horse, just a simple Illusion anchored on the bead he woven into the mare's mane in the form of a braid, and thus, not doesn't warrant any special attention. Stroking the face of the mare, he takes a moment to admire her before putting on the riding equipment. Once done, he leads her out of the stable before getting into the saddle. Getting comfortable for the coming hours long ride in the saddle, he gets the mare to begin walking away from the stable.

His poly-morph and Illusion disguise will fade in two hours, he's confident that he'll be able to evade what passes as Order patrols within this part of their territory. From what he can tell, the Order patrols stick a few hours close to the various settlements near the edge, so he just needs to keep to the deer paths to avoid notice. It's more of a question of encountering scouting party or raid group of Non-Order beings by that point but he should be able to get by those as they should know better then deal with a Pillar Devil.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

 _How long until they finally realize that all these riots aren't doing them any good? Or that Order NPCs are being more hostile then usual towards us Players?_ Hitoshi wonders to himself as he leans in an alleyway with an Illusion on his name while he's wearing face paint to alter his features plus used chemicals to dye his hair to a lighter shade.

He's watching a group of Players meet up in the back of a stable, soon enough, their thirteenth member arrives. The Players merely nod while they continue to complain to one another in varying degrees concerning the unfairness of life within the game, the whole issue of relearning about their own Quirks, and how nobody had any right to keep them from returning to their normal lives. It tempts him, it really does, to use his Quirk on the group by giving them a simple command of calm the fuck down, get their heads out of their asses, and Think about their situation without lying to themselves concerning their capacity to Return to living a so called Normal Life after experiencing twelve years in a computer game.

 _You'd think Draven would be the more unstable Player beside those hostage Players... What with possessing two sets of memories, one sporting greater life experience and different species then the other._ The Elf Player muses as he watches one of the Dwarf Players a bit more intently as she doesn't complain as much as the others. The name above her head is Astrid'sSong and is quick type the name before dismissing the Message feature.

 _Ah well, people do love drama in their lives..._ Yes, all the Players are victims of Ultimate Doom and whoever is backing him, but there's little anyone can do to end the game quickly as those outside of the game are concerned about the effects of messing with the internal calendar, after all, the release command is still within the Japanese's server data and is counting down just fine. Genuine fear that if they did something to speed up the countdown, it'll trigger something to cause the release command to vanish from the system's coding. People's lives, his own among them, hang in the balance of those people on the outside of the game being careful with how they handle this situation.

 _It's not that I don't get why this is so frustrating but at the same time... I'm scared._ Hitoshi admits to himself as the Elf Adventurer watches as Astrid'sSong begins passing out beer and that's alarming as he knows three of those Players are underage.

Stepping back into the shadows of the alleyway, he begins typing out a mini report about what he's seeing as he knows that only Non-Order NPCs from other Planes can so easily hand out alcoholic drinks to Players. It's likely that Astrid'sSong is actually a Dwarf, born outside of the Expanse and likely a mercenary for hire as well. Sending it to ErasingError and Night/s_Thorns before returning to paying the group of thirteen his full attention, he already expects orders to confront her and make use of his Quirk to get information from her. There's no question that she's been in contact with another Player, given that name and how it's spelt.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"I almost didn't expect you to make it for New Years." Draven admits as the original Devil Player welcomes him into the office. He'd been able to keep a minimum requirement needed to keep his position as External Advisor and it's strained his relationship with a particular Devil, who isn't nicknamed the Gray Leopard.

"It's been a trying three months." Hitoshi admits as he moves to take a seat at the couch with his friend to join him in that area. Gemstone purple eyes studying him while seating upon a cushioned chair. "Ultimate Doom decided he liked the Company idea and had those nineteen Players found one on the Plane of Eternal Rapids, with a focus on recruiting the local NPC population."

"Pirate's Delight..." His best male friend states and he nods. There's a slight sigh and he gives his friend a tired smile as he reaches for the platter of Deep Fried Crab Legs, it's fairly good for all that it's likely been sitting out for a few hours.

"You authorize to share any details of your mission?" Asks Draven and he gives his friend a head shake of no. Splinter, AKA Nezu, didn't want to involve his friend in any operations as he's unable to instant Message other Players in a timely manner along with Draven having to deal with his House's slow alterations of including him among the House's internal politics. Given how long lived Pillar Devils, AKA Noble Devils are, it's unlikely that Draven will be expected to have a whole lot to do with any special House events or receive many relatives, after all, Draven still has under sixty years before he's expected to pull an adult's weight and it's unlikely they'll pull him into their internal politic games as it means he'll be another rival for the House Title, after all, there's still decades yet to see if his friend can survive to reach adulthood, regardless of his Mastery of House Magic.

"How goes your latest project?" He asks after his third crab leg. His friend snorts before leaning forward and picking up a Slice of Apple Glazed Maple from the bowl next to the platter of Cheddar and Lobster Biscuits, picking up one of the biscuits, he waits for a reply.

"Latest one... Well, there's the short term one and then there's the long term one." The Devil Player before muses. "Short term has to do with expanding the Quarry Outpost into an actual Mine."

That's the one he knew of viva his girlfriend. "Long term is starting up a forestry program, starting with figuring out which trees to start off with. Hard or soft? Should we pick ones that also double for providing with fruits or nuts? Or just go with Maple for the sap?" Ah, he knew that Draven had thought of planting an orchard around the fort but it seems that it altered into an actual business plan concerning the growing of trees for timber.

"You already have someone more capable on that one, it think." He remarks with a slight tease and his friend's lips go up while the eyes seem to sparkle in amusement. "You know me so well."

Snorting lightly, he replies, "Well, I'd hope so, I wouldn't be a very good advisor if I didn't know your likes and dislikes very well or after holding this post as long as I have." Sure, it started as a way to excuse his remaining at the fort and why they can spend time together without any of the NPCs from questioning things. After all, he did go from valuable prisoner to cooperative prisoner to trusted employee, particularly given the whole appearance of not just Ultimate Doom but the three Players who came to rescue him; ErasingError, Pezntation, and Night/s_Thorns.

"And here I thought you just enjoyed the steady pay check the post offers." Draven teases and it takes him a few seconds to recall a time when he didn't get a steady amount of money, that it had been a rather alien experience to receive money on a scheduled basis, particularly in the game after the whole. _Murder Hobo lifestyle._ He muses, it's a phrase passed around the Players at the start of the game, those how played a classic table top game called D&D.

Sure, it wasn't a nice name but then, money had been the bottom line and in a way, there were only two ways to get it, Quests getting completed and killing enemies, namely Monsters of varying types but Non-Order races got covered by that term as well. Plus, the owners of inns and taverns stated prices for rooms had been expensive so camping around had been cheaper, often times, a camp site was just a sleeping bag and a camp fire. It's sours his mood a bit to recall the ultimate reason for how he ended up 'meeting' Draven for the first time.

Something of his mood seems to show and his friend's teasing smile goes down a touch. "It's been a while since I've had a chance to speak with X-Rei." His friend admits while looking towards the window.

"She's helping to design the holding cells. Seems like they are going with suspended animation option." The Elf Player tells Draven.

It's clear that the thought of using such magic for said purpose hadn't crossed the other's mind. "That would save on the need to provide for them along with keeping them mentally stimulated." Admits the Devil Player. "Is it going to be the... Ah, yes, you wouldn't know the details I take it."

"True and... This has to do with how they treated your..." He feels his throat tighten as he remembers his first visit to the Underground. Looking down, he spies a mug and takes it, downing it, pretending that it was something stranger then the non-alcoholic cider that it is.

"It would be best they are made aware of how that could bleed off from the prisoner or the magic effect can spread throughout the building, causing temporal problems for the other people." He does recall the reason for the whole hanging Draven up in the air. "It affected gravity too, didn't it? In the body, I mean." Recalling how easily his friend moved without any complain the day after the breaking of the Curse Magic.

"It slows time to a crawl when it comes to it affecting the body." States the Devil Player and it finally clicks just how all encompassing that statement likely is. His face must show his dawning realization and his friend reaches down for his own mug of cider. "Yes, it's a rather interesting concept to grasp."

"Not for you, though." He remarks and the Gray Leopard merely shrugs. "It's a mixture of culture and caution concerning magical effects." And that does explain a lot, cultural shock is still a thing he's heard about.

"Everyone's a critic." Adds Draven upon taking a sip from said mug. "Refill?"

He does his best to suppress a yawn. "I think I've had a long day and I'm going to head off to my room... After I help polish off theses plates." Hitoshi states with a grin and his friend snorts softly but clearly gives him a slight looking over before reaching for another apple slice from the bowl.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

 _You know, given how vindictive the so called Insane Elf is, I really should have seen this coming._ He mentally admits to himself, he's gagged with hands and legs bound as he's at the center of a Rune Array. Ultimate Doom put off killing Draven for quite sometime and then when he struck, he struck hard and almost killed his friend, it's something he's had nightmares about and likely will continue to have nightmares about in the future.

Turning his head, he glimpses Lord_Murder|Exploder and the... well transformed Human Player is clearly looking eager for the 'show' as it were, to begin. It's not like he expected pity from the transformed Player, gods know what tortures or spells been used on Lord_Murder|Exploder and all to keep Hitoshi from being the one to be at Ultimate Doom's thumb. It's rather hard for him to recall just what the Human Player's original Avatar had looked like.

Which reminds him of the Quirkless Hostages that pose as Ultimate Doom's Boss 'Monsters'. Certain races he's seen a great deal more then others on the Expanse. The others are rather strange and out of place, particularly when wearing those kind of cloths, then again, it's doubtful Ultimate Doom would allow them to spend a lot of money on purchasing cloths from their birth Planes, likely a form of punishment given the number of 'revolts' each of the so called Boss 'Monsters' likely preformed throughout the years. _The tales Draven tells..._

Does he sympathize with their situation? Yes. Will that stop him from fighting them? Nope but he won't go for the kill though, disable or unconscious yes, kill them, no. The Elf Player doesn't really know if any of them fully understand why they rebel against Ultimate Doom besides persona reasons and tempers yet, the so called Insane Elf puts up with the waste of time and likely loss of minions in good humor it sounded like. _Although that could have changed since then..._

He doesn't really know much about the inner workings of Ultimate Doom's mind nor has anyone thought to share with him any information from any spies among those gathered here. _Then again, I never wanted to know or follow after the Villain's exploits..._ He mentally admits as he gazes at the outer edge of the Rune Array, it's slowly powering up and, well, it's a very crudely drawn.

 _Poor layering along with lack of quality materials._ The Adventurer mentally concludes at a glance at said Ritual Ingredients. Given his Level plus race, it's unlikely that this Ritual Array will cause any true changes to his form but it's more then likely that it's going to hurt regardless of its failure.

Wouldn't surprise him if there's multiple Ritual Arrays already prepared and that he'll be subjected to those once they arrive at said location. _I wonder how many he's prepared?_ He wonders as he moves as best as he can so that he can get a glimpse of said Villain, who continues to look like a starved Elf from his first glimpsing of said Villain Player, it's mostly the cloths that have changed.

There's jeers and such from the onlookers, but really, it's the waiting for the Ritual Array to power up that's really bothering him in the end. _I'm not even drugged, the least they could do is drug me so I'm not aware of how long this is taking..._ He thinks as he scowls while watching the Ritual Array powers up.

Then it seems that one of the minor Runic Clusters wasn't constructed right and... "God fucking damn it, not again!" Whines Ultimate Doom as the magical charge doesn't advance.

 _Sad part is... I don't think this was the work of a spy._ Hitoshi mentally reasons, wishing he had a hand free in order to face palm with it. There's thunderous angry bellow, likely from Lord_Murder|Exploder and then growls plus snarls thrown in. It seems that the transformed Human Player can't talk, which might be by design but he doubts it, the man child strikes him as someone who likes verbally 'sparring' with his victims.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

Leaning on Draven, his Avatar's limbs jerk without any real input from him. He's tried to speak but there's just wheezes. It's not long before X-Rei takes matters in her own hands when he can't seem to grasp the offered Potion. "Open wide."

He does and the opening of the Potion is put before his lips, he manages to tilt his head up. The liquid enters his mouth and it irritates his teeth, which is odd as he had thought his teeth had all fallen out during one of the Ritual Array attempts. Once there's no more liquid, it's then that he actually tastes the Potion and finds his tongue to be... Not as thick as it had been, he now feels around his gums with the tip of it. There had been tiny teeth coming out of his gums it feels like.

"Just sleep, everything will be back to normal when you wake." Promises X-Rei. He doesn't stop the yawn and leans more on Draven.

"It's been a trying three days." _Just three days? Huh, I hadn't thought it was that long... Just thought it'd been two at the most..._ He thinks as his eyes fight to stay closed.

He's not really asleep just yet, his eyes just refuse to open now. Then he feels firm grasp of his shoulders and then his legs are sweep out from under him. Without realizing it, he pulls himself closer to the chest and falls asleep, feeling safe and knowing that he's with friends.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

"Huh." X-Rei muses at the sight of White-Out breathing evening out upon snuggling closer to his chest. "You're stronger then you look, you know?" She muses.

"More like muscle and fat have been burned up to power the changes done to the bones..." The Devil Player muses as he studies the spines that are trying to rip out of the skin or already have emerged from the skin. "Hardly surprising, given someone clearly doesn't know what Level he actual is and using piss poor Ritual Ingredients."

There's a slight giggle from the other Player. "You can curse!" He lets out a soft sigh before glancing at his waiting Squad Leaders.

Walking over, the three Squad Leaders take a second to glance from X-Rei to White-Out and then focus on his face. "At ease." He states in their native tongue.

"Sir, all ten of the primary targets have been successfully subdued and we have people standing by to dose them at any signs of them stirring." Informs one Brandon, his Unit Icon on the left breast which is that of a black rose with thorny stem, he's the most senior Guard he brought with him from his fort. "Preparations underway to turn them over to Wonderment Company."

"How goes construction of Laborer X-Rei's Portal Containment Chambers?" _Seriously, that name is a mouthful_. He very much ignores any smug like looks she's likely sending him on him actually using her name for the things.

"Minor problems concerning the instructions." Admits one Bella, his only high ranking female Common Devil, the Unit Icon is a yellow brick wall and who he's put in charge of what passes as his military engineering personal. "We have people mismatching which of the panels are suppose to go with which."

"I take it someone thought it a good idea to open all the boxes at once?" Draven ventures a guess but it's a pretty obvious statement given the problems. He can only imagine the seething look on his other friend's face.

"We are marking them with paints on those that are meant to go together." Bella reports. He's pretty sure that X-Rei is now lamenting over the fact that someone is using paint on her babies, no matter how temporary the paint is.

"Good." He states simply and ignores the minor slap on his back from the Wonder Maker. His gaze settles upon his more range focus Squad Leader, one Perseus and the Unit Icon is a crimson acorn.

"We've occupied their defenses and some members are gathering up the bodies of the enemy while gathering up left behind equipment of our down forces." He feels himself relaxing upon hearing that the bodies are strictly of enemy combatants. "A number of enemies died due to friendly fire." Adds the final Squad Leader.

He... really should be more surprised to hear that reported but isn't. Nodding, he asks, "Is there a room ready?"

"Yes sir." He's given directions and with that, he dismisses the three. Looking down at his sleeping burden in his arms, he does some minor arm flexing to be sure he's still got a comfortable hold and then follows through with following the directions, careful of how he walks through the ill kept base of operations.

"Well... At least everything is looking up, we've found him and have ideas of previous locations of other bases of operations!" Chimes X-Rei once they've found the right room, which has a guard waiting in front of.

"Twenty-eight Players are at large, Rei." He gently but firmly states once White-Out is on the bed. "And out of those twenty-eight, we only been able to keep track of the five Players who founded Pirate's Delight. That's twenty-three Players scattered about the Planes pursuing who knows what kind of objectives on Ultimate Doom's behalf."

"This is the last year of the game, too." Draven reminds her. "We also have to acknowledge that there's a chance that with Ultimate Doom captured, those who supported him will know that he's been taken out within the game and likely programmed things for that eventuality."

Not that he feels any guilt over helping to trigger those programs, not when he had such an easy time of it capturing the Insane Elf along with the more priority targets. After all, White-Out is his friend, he hasn't had one of those in... Well, Izuku hasn't had one since his childhood friend Kacchan transformed into his bully Bakugo Katsuki, after all, being a Pillar Devil, Draven Ose never really had a friend nor been encouraged to go out and make friends among Non-Pillar Devils let alone among other Pillar Devils his age.

So yes, he refused to let Ultimate Doom have an easy way to escape and given how powerful the Insane Elf is, it should have been a simple matter of teleporting out of the one of many Ritual Chambers this base seems to house. "You really weren't suppose to inform me of his capture, were you?" The original Devil Player muses after a period of silence as he does his best to regain control over his emotions concerning White-Out, be it what he means to him to the state they found him in.

"Don't know why they seem to be slowly cutting you out of the information loop, really don't." X-Rei admits from her position on sitting on one of the chairs while he's leaning on the door leading out of the room. "You're the one who's building up an army along with... Well, building things up."

"The army was logical as I figured I'd be targeted again by Ultimate Doom. The Insane Elf wanted me dead once, figured he'd get around to correcting that." He informs her and she looks rather cross at the reminder.

"All the more reason keep you in the loop, you're the one who gets us the common materials we want for our projects and it's because of you that we're tolerated beyond the Expanse." The Human Player states.

He studies her for a bit, listening as she curses out various high ranking members of her Company. The sentiment behind it, the emotions she displays... With a sigh, he looks up at the ceiling and wonders, wonders if he should share his suspension concerning the reason. _Or reasons..._ He muses slightly sourly while keeping his face in a passive neutral look.

It's not something he wants confirmed but, well, it's the second week of January and the count down to realizing whether his conclusion, his suspension is right is drawing in. It's hard to say how either of them react to the hearing it. _Do you want a comforting lie or a hard truth?_ He wonders as he looks down at stare at White-Out before gazing upon X-Rei.

 _Or is it that I want to tell the comforting lie over the cold, hard truth? That I want to enjoy what we have without that doubt tainting what might be our last year together?_ Draven isn't sure he can ultimately handle hearing if what his suspects to be true is the truth of his situation. While he does suspect a wide array of reasons, the one that he can't help returning to is...

 _My body died and I'm just the digital ghost of one Midoriya Izuku?_

To be continued . . .


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own My Hero Academia!

* * *

Arrows arc in the air above the incoming army of Minotaur and Oni before falling through the air. Some hit metal armor and bounce off while a smaller number don't hit any of the incoming bodies. Those other arrows that do hit a fleshy mark, they deal both pain and damage. There's already more arrows arcing in the air, there are three groups of archers on their side after all, so there is continuous fire from that front.

Not that the incoming forces seem to care, not when they are trying to retrieve their captive leaders from his dungeon. _Which are empty._ Draven thinks to himself as he watches as a wave of Enchanted javelins now hit the front line, causing Magical effect to take 'root'.

The wood shafts of the javelins seem to explode into brown roots and green vines, the roots dig into the ground while the vines entangle the being hit. There's bellows of pain as the fore-runners are unable to move while from behind them, more of their forces continue charging towards the walls of Den of the Gray Leopard. None of those entangled die from getting rammed into from behind nor do those charging forward get far, they get tripped up and more javelins are sent flying, the same kind as those, too, take the form of roots and vines.

He smiles faintly in satisfaction at how those javelins are creating a living barricade using the bodies of the incoming army. The effects seem to last longer then a few seconds. With this going on, the archers change tactics and snipe at the enemies along that barricade. There's a great deal of pushing going on among the attackers.

 _Might as well help that along._ He muses to himself, with ease, the beginning of a spell begins to be spoken while he pulls out the needed Spell Components from his Dimensional Pocket so he doesn't spent a large dose of his own Magic when he might need it later. The Spell Components are consumed as the final word of the Mad Compulsion Spell is spoken.

It matters not who gets hit for he already knows that it'll do its job perfectly. An Oni cries out and turns the massive club onto the closest target, who happens to be a Minotaur, attacking them with said weapon. Sure enough, the nearest Minotaurs turn on that Oni and kill them. In turn, the Oni who notice begin attacking the nearest Minotaur, thus it spirals out from there and his forces hold their arrows and javelins, allowing their enemies to forget where they are.

Any time it looks like they are calming down, he's using the Mad Compulsion Spell on them and it works for another four times, then he switches to a more area of effect version called Battle Lust, kicking the already violent mind sets into overdrive. This he casts five times in rapid succession about the enemy line.

With that, he signals for his archers to resume firing. As the next valley of arrows rain down, it seems his archers have switched to Enchanted arrows as half convert into lightning within getting a foot in range of the enemy while the other half become ice shards, coating their victim in a layer of frost and their armor covered in ice. The next two valley of arrows are normal ammo.

 _One more month._ Draven thinks as the enemy forces are thinning out. _Only one month._ It's a promise to the other Players but it's not for him.

Still, the Devil Player remains positioned upon the wall as his archers pick off the remainder of the dual army. He leaves once his forces begin sending out people to collect what they can from the dead bodies.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

Smiling, he walks over towards the pair in the Hot Tube. It's been a while since they got together and just enjoy each other's company. Leaning on the side of the tube, he notices that they have the water jets up and running.

"Having an enjoyable time?" Draven asks and the two startle slightly, given how loud the water jets are within the Hot Tube, it doesn't surprise him overly that they hadn't notice him walking up. "I hope you two weren't napping in here. Wouldn't want you two to drown."

"Was just giving my eyes a rest, Neko-kun." X-Rei states as she gets comfortable upon the underwater bench once again. Back leaning upon the back of the bench with head up along while one eye seems to focus in on him.

"Once was enough to learn that lesson." White-Out insists while the other takes a moment to study him. "Anything good drop from that army?"

"Nothing outstanding." He answers before straightening up and then walking around to get into the Hot Tube, he's wearing a pair of shorts, the same material as what the two are wearing as swim wear. His shorts are purple and sport a single cat paw print on his left butt cheek, he's pretty sure that was intentional given who made and gifted the shorts to him. "This is the eighth time the Oni have sent forces against me. Seventeenth for the Minotaurs."

"So, more quality stuff from the Oni compared to the Minotaurs then?" Observes X-Rei as she is clearly watching him while trying to appear that she isn't. He moves to sit so he is able to face the two of them, the water isn't that high for him, but then, he is taller then most of the Players, then again, there are short races among the Players, like Dwarves.

"Not really, just different fashion compared to the Minotaurs." The Devil Player replies. "We'd get more exotic and rare if Tengu cared enough to cross into the Expanse for a crack at rescuing their representative among the Bosses."

"Which they don't." White-Out states and he nods. "Well, enough about that, how goes playing Tour Guide?" He asks curiously and the two groan, which is, in itself, an answer.

Yes, the two now give him flat and almost dead looks at the reminder. "Well, just think, it'll be over in less then a month." Draven remarks as he finds a comfortable grove and then moving into it.

"Nothing overly official planned." Notes X-Rei upon taking a few minutes to go through the calendar, likely checking to see if anything got scheduled. "Unless you have something going on." She focuses in on him.

"Nothing important." He assures her. "Might be another attempt by certain races to try for their leader but, well, it's not like they'd it'll work given that I'm not housing them as my prisoners."

"So, the fort doesn't need you? That you can take a week or two off?" White-Out asks and he takes some seconds to study his friend.

"You want to do something? Or you already have an out line of a plan?" The original Devil Player asks, it's pretty clear that his male friend seems to have an idea of wanting to do something.

"Just thought we'd spend the last two weeks at Aqua Agglomeration." He blinks at the mention of the Plane before he smiles after nearly a minute of recalling that vacation they had. "Just the three of us."

"Are we all going to be disguised or just me?" Draven asks curiously and X-Rei blurts out, "All of us! Oh, that'll be fun! We'd be able to mingle without anyone giving us those Looks!"

White-Out pipes in as she begins to chat about what race or races they should do. "How about the same? Nobody will be overly suspicious nor will NPCs automatically think of us as Order spies right off the bat if they get suspicious."

"So, none of the usual Player races either..." She muses as X-Rei rubs her chin. "Hmm, which race do we want to pass ourselves off as?"

"I'd almost suggest Common Devils but I get the fact that someone would object." White-Out reasons and he nods his head in agreement, after all, he's a Pillar Devil and if they were going to do something that none of them were then that takes Devils out of the list of options for NPC races. "So, what race are we going to pick?" The Elf Player wonders, given they have a few days to decide before he begins to make arrangements concerning his private vacation with his two friends, they have sometime to debate the pros and cons of various races.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

The smell of the salty air of the Plane and the brisk breeze about his eyes, never mind the sight of the harbor of Squalo's Teeth sporting a steady stream of workers going onto and coming off of one of the massive ships built to survive the pretty much ocean Plane that is Aqua Agglomeration. They're already moving from the Planar Gate and towards Squalo's Teeth proper. They had used the Company's Gate to arrive at a different Plane, he already forgot the name of it but the location in particular is known for it's high population of Dracoforms.

Yes, they settled on Dracoforms as a way to honor a certain Player and they are going to pass themselves off as the sub-type that's meant for water. Hitoshi's disguise sports dark green scales with smoky gray eyes, X-Rei's disguise sports light brown scales with dark purple eyes, and Draven's sports dark red base with speckle blue spots upon the scales while sporting a tasteful pink for eye color. His current name is Drake, X-Rei's is Tohru, and Draven's is Smaug, yea, he's not sure when they decided on using names concerning dragons but they did and both X-Rei and himself did vote on Smaug for Draven's fake name.

 _It actually took longer for X-Rei to pick a suitable name._ He reflects as they make it to what passes for a city gate. Once through, Tohru is quick to grab both of their hands and pulls them towards the nearest point of interest.

They spent most of the day doing the tourist thing at Squalo's Teeth and sampling the various local dishes that were cheap along with drinks. They settle at an actual tavern to have supper at. "So, theater? Or should we just turn in for the night?"

Both X-Rei and himself hum as they consider Draven's proposal. He's drinking from his mug of Warm Beach Ale while X-Rei is eating Shell Cradle Delight, it's a bunch of steamed scallops, oysters, mussels, snails, and the odd Flea Crab. Their respective friend ordered Fried Coral Lung Cat-Fish and a mug of Sea Salt Rum, X-Rei ordered a mug of the same, Sea Salt Rum, and he ordered for his supper Boiled Fern Eel, it's stuffed with shredded sea weed and other water grown veggies.

"Might want to just turn in for the night, the theaters might be less busy during the day." He reasons after giving it some thought. "Yea, it's been a pretty long day, after all, we did have to wake up so early..." X-Rei trails off while suppressing a yawn.

The disguise Devil Player nods in agreement and he brings up a different topic, "Once we're done here in Squalo's Teeth, should we take a ship to another city? Or should we just stick to this continent?" Squalo's Teeth is one of the main port cities of Promontory Strand.

"We didn't really spent a lot of time away from the campsite." Reflects Draven and he agrees, although he pipes in, "But the location of the camp was decent given the view and it a few hours walk to that tiny community if we needed to buy something we didn't realize we needed."

"... Tohru? You have any preferences?" The disguise Devil Player inquires after recalling switch name to use.

"How much of Promontory Strand did you two get around to exploring?" She asks as she glances between them. Taking a sip of her mug afterwards.

"Stuck to the northern mountain area." Draven admits upon him turn to look at him. After all, the Devil Player would know best being the one who planned that vacation.

"What other major city ports are there here on... Promontory Strand?" X-Rei asks and it's clear that Draven did some reading just for this, he can tell given the way the disguised Player's eyes seem to light up. It's not all that different then the look X-Rei gets when she's chatting about the details behind the concept of a function, a function she wants one of her babies to have.

He does his best to finish eating his dish and drink his ale, just enjoying the company of his two friends. _Hard to believe... I not only found people who tolerate me but who want to be friends with me..._ Hitoshi finds it comforting, the silver lining of this situation, really. Neither of them care about his Quirk and he doesn't really care about their own or lack of one.

Sure, time in this game is all subjective yet, he's known Draven for years and he's come to know X-Rei in the few years they've met because of a certain incident resulted in someone ending up in the form of a leopard variant. The Elf Player's gaze lands on Draven as he recalls how his friend almost died and yet, he somehow managed to Order the Devil Player into doing something to ensure he Lives. That... that was kind of mind blowing and nerve wracking at the same time along with something that he's determined to never see happen again.

 **! = - ^ o ^ - = !**

"I... I..." Draven looks rather uncertain as they wait for the count down timer to run out. Between them, X-Rei and himself share a look, oh, they both notice slight changes in mood with the disguised Player but this is the first time the other seems willing to breach the topic.

 _He looks so vulnerable..._ Hitoshi thinks to himself as his gaze returns to looking at the still disguised Player, they were still in their disguises as Dracoforms. "We've noticed you're mood..." He trails off.

"You're been kind of a downer at times." X-Rei sums it up and he sends her a minor glare at the bluntness of that. "Ah, well, it's not just a recent thing." Admits Draven.

"Ok, here..." The other male member of the trio takes a deep breath and tries to collect himself. "I'm not sure... It's only a thought! It really is but, well, I kept getting these Looks... from Nuala."

He's not sure what to make of that, honestly, after all, it's been a while since he's seen the two interact. _Then again, all three of them have left the game three months before the deadline..._ The Elf Adventurer recalls.

"What kind of Looks are we talking about?" Asks X-Rei and he highly doubts he's the only one to hear the undertone in that question. "They seem to be... pitying ones, generally, I think."

"Pitying?" He repeats and the other nods with a slight positive hum. "Generally pitying and then there's been... Night/s_Thorn's reactions plus a number of questions about..."

"About what I experienced when I was under your command, you know, the one to Live." Draven gets around to stating, clearly not looking happy at remembering that. "Trying to get me to... recreate the mental arrays I thought up but, well, it's just... hazy."

He really doesn't like where this discussion is leading and feels a lump in his throat while his stomach seems to be heavy. "Then there's the whole... cutting me from Company meetings or business." He hadn't really noticed that.

"It could mean a lot of things but... I might just being pessimistic... I mean, my theory could be way off! I never got up the courage to just... ask or confront them about it, so, I'm not working with a lot of pieces or some of the pieces aren't the right ones or the critical ones..." It's rather unlike Draven to babble on like this, which means that this is clearly Izuku's influence shining through.

"Izuku." And the disguised Player's head turns to look at him. "Just what is your theory?"

"Something happened to my body." Izuku states after a few seconds. "Something..." Echo's X-Rei and Izuku nods.

His mind races before his eyes narrow. "You're here." Hitoshi states and Izuku nods in agreement. "Yea, I'm here."

"Your mind is still connected to your body." X-Rei states. "I kind of ease-dropped on something once, they mention how reassuring that is along with how bizarre it was. Well, they never mentioned who's mind is still connected to their body but..."

And this seems to be something that relieves Izuku as the tension in the shoulders and the way the other Player had been hunched over comes to an end. "Oh! That's a huge relief... I thought I was just a data ghost!"

He's not the only one to shout, "What?!" The other just laughs in a nervous fashion, clearly unsure of which of them to focus on.

"Ah, well, it was just a theory! I mean, I didn't have a lot to work with! And it just seemed to..." Hitoshi is at a loss of words at this point as he has so many emotions swirling inside of him.

"You thought your bodied died and nobody would tell you?!" X-Rei snaps, clearly angry and, well, Izuku nods slightly. "It... Well, come on, NPCs are just take, Non-Player Characters. If my body died then, I'd just be an echo of Izuku, a digital ghost, an AI that thought itself human."

"Just... stop." He manages to say and the two look at him. "Just..." His ability with words goes away with ease but the two seem to read him just fine.

"Sorry for causing you both to worry." Izuku admits and X-Rei pats him on the shoulder, she would likely mess his hair up but, well, the disguises are still up. "Hey, at least now you know that your not that." X-Rei states and the previous brainwashed Player nods in agreement.

"Yea, your right." Then the timer begins to take up their vision as it count downs from a minute to zero.

 **= - / o ^ + ^ o \ - =**

His limbs felt too long for his body and everything seemed to be far too small. Shouta refuses to let that stop him, there's something he Needs to see for himself, to confirm with his own actual eyes and regardless of how unfamiliar his actual flesh and blood body is, it responses to his wishes in a sluggish way, what with a year of not moving while his brain signals have been diverted into a computer interface reader... Pushing his upper body, he moves into a sitting position as he takes a look at the various readers and the needle, taking moments to pick out which goes where before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. It takes him almost a minute to get his balance when he stands, he then brushes off the various reading pads on his skin, leaving the IV alone as it will follow after him, in fact, he might as well use it to help him walk in search of the room he wants to visit.

Alarms go off as he pulls the IV towards him viva it connection. With as firm a grip as he can, after trying to grab it at least four times, missing judging the distance to varying degrees. Shouta, teacher of U.A. and the Underground Pro Hero Eraser Head shuffles out of the room. It takes him a minutes to get around his floor, he finds all the other Pro Heroes who'd been trapped in the game also housed on the floor. All wearing Quirk Suppressors and a few are also awake, although they seem to be trying to get familiar with the idea that they were finally out of the game. If a few had tears trailing down their faces, well, it's not his problem.

"As excepted of you, Aizawa-san." He looks down to find Nezu waiting at an elevator. "Well, might as well get this over with so you can get some actual rest."

He does his best to scowl but does make his way towards the white furred mammal of a principal. Leaning on the wall, the door close and he does his best to catch his breath along with allowing his protesting body to recover from his wanderings. His vision swims but it hardly matters, what matters is that he's close to verifying with his own two eyes the condition of a certain Problem Devil, who's going to have a lot more problems then just having to deal with reasserting himself as Midoriya Izuku and dealing with said emotional baggage, of which is going to be compounded given the... changes Midoriya's body has under gone.

All of the Quirkless Players had ended up at the same hospital and they had been put into a kind of... process. In the end, according to Nezu, they only became alarmed that something might be happening to those Players due to the almost brain death of Midoriya, which caused them to want to check upon on said Player's actual body... It seems that process had a firm grip on the teen's body and they had been unable to remove the boy from the tube, the other Quirkless Players' had been removed their own tubes and what minimal changes done to their bodies easily reversed.

"It's rather fascinating the metamorphosis Midoriya-kun's body has undergone along with the rewiring of his brain." Nezu admits after a few minutes, the elevator almost reaching the basement security floor. "His base genetic material is human, the last genetic testing shows a nine percent difference from usual humans and a touch larger difference with the closes ape relative."

Turning his head, he then turns his whole body as he stares at the buttons. It's hardly all that surprising that the mammal would be highly interested in the Problem Devil's case, particularly given the fact that it makes Midoriya the very first of a new species, genetically speaking. "Most will just assume he's got a Mutant Quirk based on his appearance." Assures Nezu.

Giving the mammal a simple flat look, the elevator dings and opens. Gripping the IV contraption, Shouta tries to straighten up and walk out of the elevator, the wheels got caught in the grooves of the door but he does manage pick up the base just enough to push it pass. Moving to the side so that his employer can take point as there are security locks meant for Nezu to use.

Once pass the various doors, they arrive at the tube where the Problem Devil is floating within. "Huh..." He expected a different appearance then what he's seeing before him now.

"We've been talking with his mother about our plans, once she's accepted the idea that we can't reverse the changes he's gone through." Nezu informs him and he gives a slight nod, after all, he's had his say concerning how they should go about handling the teen, after all, few can fully understand what the teen has gone through. "She's also got enough on her plate, given what we've uncovered in regards to Midoriya-kun's previous school experiences."

"I hardly think she's the only parent who'll be pressing charges against various schools over that issue." He manages to croak out, his voice sounding so... alien to his own ears. His gaze upon the teen's dark brown skin before focusing upon Midoriya's soft gray thin stripes along his arms and legs. The hair is primarily a natural green with black under tones. The back is like one big blister with the skin being black with the surface sporting the red and blue blood vessels almost poking out.

Something pokes the skin of that 'blister' and he glances down at Nezu, not sure what to make of what he thought he saw. "The beginning of some new bone structure from our professionals have declared. The back is undergoing a massive redesign to support what's being constructed."

"We're looking at what appears to be a long term body reconstruction going on and there's not much we can get from reviewing his genetic code, all we can do is monitor him while being thankful we've succeeded in shuffling his conscious into a specially created program." The mammal states. "At this moment, I believe Midoriya-kun should be having a reunion with Midoriya-san."

"Quirk?" He asks after a period of silence as he returns to gazing at the physical body of the Problem Devil. There's a slight sigh from Nezu.

"It's unknown if he'll have one once his body has finished it's reconstruction." _Or be able to identify something as one._ He realizes. "We're labeling this as a recently activation of a latent Mutant Quirk."

He merely grunts and is beginning to feel the effects of his journey here with his previous bed ridden body. His fingers tighten around the IV metal pole as he tries to resist the urge to sit down. His body is at its limit and it's clear that others notice as a pair of people in lab coat approach, he doesn't resist their efforts of hustling him to a seat.

For now, Shouta is reassured that Midoriya Izuku will be able to return to his body, it's a question of what they are going to do from here on out.

 **The End**

 **Author's Note:** Yea, sorry about how long this chapter took but, well, somethings had been easier to type out then others.

And, well, hey, look, he's not dead! He just going to end up looking like a Devil, not like Gentleman Draven Ose though and with wings. He's going to have wings.

No Quirk as such but then, that's more because he won't be human enough for such a tag to be honestly used for anything he can do, not sure what he'll end up being able to do besides having the ability to encase himself in a field of some sort that allows him to speed his personal time up, making it look like he's got super speed.

Thanks for reading! Hope you found this story to your liking!


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